Left field

Boca put River in their place

By Rex Gowar

The result of the year’s first “superclasico” was logical with first division champions Boca Juniors beating second-division River Plate 2-0.

But Wednesday night’s friendly – an unprecedented clash with one of the two giants of the Argentine game in the second tier — was also something of an anti-climax after the massive build.

Argentina’s biggest soccer rivalry, whether they are playing an off-season warm-up as in this case or a decisive Libertadores Cup clash or anything in between, puts all others in the shade.

It was played in the steamy northern city of Resistencia in the sub-tropical Chaco province with massive police control to keep the hard-core element among their fans, bitter enemies, to their word that there would be no trouble.

As it happened, one of River’s senior players, former Russia-based midfielder Alejandro Dominguez, could have sparked trouble with his insulting gestures to Boca fans as he eventually and reluctantly trudged off following a red card.

“Chori” Dominguez, who should have known better, lost his self control and reacted badly to a booking, clamouring about Boca fouls and accusing the referee of bias which earned him the dismissal.

Will “fit and happy” Woods rediscover on-course cheer?

The photos depict it, Rory McIlroy’s been saying it, now it’s up to the Abu Dhabi Golf Club to confirm that at long last, Tiger Woods is happy and fighting fit again.

That the 14-times major champion should choose the European Tour’s first big event of the season to make his 2012 debut in favour of one of his favourite courses at Torrey Pines in California is one thing.

Woods’ results at Torrey Pines have been astonishing – seven wins including his last major at the U.S. Open in 2008 – while his rare forays to the Middle East have been equally impressive, two Dubai Desert Classic wins in six attempts with only one finish outside the top five.

More noticeable however is the American’s demeanour, critics say his huge appearance fee in the UAE capital might have something to do with it, but surely money no longer lures Woods. He wants to start winning again.

Whether he can do that in Abu Dhabi, with the spotlight firmly on him and a quality field including the world’s top four players, remains to be seen.

Should he find the going tough perhaps we will see the same surly Woods stomp around the course, spitting freely and winning no fans with his attitude.

But again, just like the money, surely those days are behind him.

No longer No. 1, Wozniacki can start taking risks

Finally, the most worn-out debate in women’s tennis can stop after Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki’s defeat in the Australian Open quarter-finals by Kim Clijsters means she will no longer be No.1 in the rankings.

Ever since she first topped the rankings in October 2010, Wozniacki’s lack of a grand slam title has prompted questions about her suitability for the lofty position. Even this week former great Martina Navratilova said Wozniacki’s status was more to do with the limitations of the ranking system which rewards her grinding consistency rather than results at grand slams.

It is hardly Wozniacki’s fault that she found herself as No.1 for virtually all of the past year, after all she does not make the rules, but falling off her perch might just be a blessing in disguise for the Dane as the focus shifts elsewhere.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka, still seeking a first major, could all begin next week as the new No.1 and while Wozniacki confidently predicts that she will regain it soon, she can now concentrate on filling in the glaring gap in her CV without the weekly round of questions over her status.

Wozniacki’s game is naturally defensive and while her level rarely drops, she has so far been unable to add the kind of firepower to her game that can make the difference in the latter stages of the slams when she invariably crosses paths with the big hitters.

Still largely coached by her father Piotr, Wozniacki’s game has stagnated despite her No.1 ranking and wins against top-10 players over the past year have been few and far between. In that time Kvitova and Azarenka, who contested the WTA Tour Finals last October, have both made significant improvements.

Belrussian Azarenka has been in dominant form in Australia, roaring into the semi-finals where she will play four-times major winner Clijsters while world number two Kvitova is being tipped as favourite for the title after reaching the quarter-finals where she will face Italy’s Sara Errani on Wednesday.

Technology, Lendl and expectations at the Australian Open

By Greg Rusedski

The big Australian hope for the woman’s title Sam Stosur, the U.S. Open champion, went out in the first round which wasn’t a huge surprise. She said in all her press conferences before the event about how she wasn’t dealing with the pressure and home expectations. In my experience, even if a player is feeling that way they shouldn’t bring it up at a press conference as it could potentially give the opponent an extra belief. Sam will learn from this and hopefully get stronger for it.

On the men’s side, Australia’s big hope Bernard Tomic played well and is the real deal. He loves playing with the Australian pressure and expectation. Unfortunately for Tomic in the fourth round he came up against the great Roger Federer. It was another entertaining match from Tomic but Federer was just too good. Tomic is an exciting player to watch because of the variety in his game. He can hit any shot and mixes the pace of the ball all the time. He is a great thinker on the court and is a natural born winner. At only 19 years of age he should be in the top 10 very soon if he keeps working.

Federer has been sublime all week and there are no more worries about the back problem he suffered in Doha. His quarter-final match against Juan Martin Del Potro will be a repeat of the 2009 U.S. Open. It has all the makings for a classic match.

Former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt, now world number 181, turned back the clock in the first week by making the second week at the Australian Open. His fighting spirit is as strong as ever, but after five surgeries in four years it will be nearly impossible for him to get back to the top. He should enjoy this magical moment at home. He set up a fourth round meeting with Novak Djokovic on Monday. Unfortunately for Hewitt, Djokovic had too much game and won reasonably comfortably. Djokovic has played great in the first week and is still my pick to win the title.

NFL Liveblog

We are liveblogging the NFL Conference championships on Sunday – come back at game time for in-game chat and info with Reuters reporters and fans.

Click here for the Liveblog

Sunday’s American Football Conference (AFC) championship game (15:00 ET) between the high-powered New England Patriots and ferocious Baltimore Ravens is more than just a clash between two rivals battling for a place in the Super Bowl.

It is a classic showdown between teams with opposing styles of play. A match-up that has been played all over North American fields for generations and has the ingredients for an intriguing battle that will be decided as much by wits as athleticism. Read more from Julian Linden’s Reuters preview here.

The New York Giants have enjoyed plenty of playoff success on the road, but their good fortunes will be tested in Sunday’s NFC title game against a San Francisco 49ers team that has lost just once at home all season.

There are many ways to get to the Super Bowl and the Giants are once again taking a long and winding road, but it is a path they are familiar with having followed a similar route to the National Football League’s (NFL) title game four years ago.

England to play Panesar? Another batter more like

The fallout from England’s crushing first-test defeat by Pakistan has led many pundits to call for Monty Panesar to play as a second spinner in next week’s second test, despite the fact it was the batsmen and not the bowlers who failed to turn up for the world’s top-ranked test side.

Number 11 Panesar may have performed heroics with the bat in Cardiff to save the first Ashes test in 2009 but the Pakistan bowlers will hardly be quaking in their boots. Including Panesar would seemingly mean dropping seamer Chris Tremlett, who did not get a wicket in Dubai but still bowled decently. England getting Pakistan down to 289-8 having only scored 192 first up themselves was a good effort from the England attack.

There has been talk of Ravi Bopara coming in instead to bolster the batting and bowling but the all-rounder has always struggled to impose himself on tests when the pressure is on. Being one down in a three-test series in unfamiliar surroundings really is pressure. Yes the injured Tim Bresnan brought runs down the order but so do Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. Dropping Tremlett for Bopara would be a risky move.

While rising to number one in the world, England have recovered from sudden setbacks well, such as the defeat in Perth on their way to winning the Ashes in Australia at the turn of 2010/11.

Coach Andy Flower said the side were “undercooked” for the Pakistan test series having not played the longer form of the game since the final India test in August. So much for there being too much cricket….

All the pointers from how Flower has run this England side suggests they will go in to the Abu Dhabi test with exactly the same 11.

The batters were bamboozled by Saeed Ajmal in Dubai, not the pitch. It was not doing too much and they don’t expect Abu Dhabi to either. So why bring in Panesar?

Roddick leads movement for ATP change

By Martyn Herman 

Andy Roddick on Friday insisted that tennis players must adopt “one voice” to push through changes to the ATP Tour but that may not be as easy as it seems despite the general feeling of solidarity.

Pity Brad Drewett, the new chief executive of the men’s Tour, who has the job of trying to keep everyone happy, grand slam champions, journeymen, tournament organisers, sponsors and TV.

The moment he took over the reins the spectre of a player boycott has returned.

A meeting involving hundreds if players took place on the eve of the Australian Open and although talk of a walkout from Melbourne was aired it did not come to fruition.

But there is clearly dissent in the ranks, and Drewett is the man tasked with damping down what could become a firestorm in the men’s game.

Tebow time makes way for Manning mania even outside U.S.

The Tim Tebow fairytale is over but NFL provided more drama with Super Bowl champions and previously imperious Green Bay being unceremoniously dumped out at home by New York Giants.

Over here in Europe, interest in NFL has grown markedly this year if Twitter trends are taken into account. Maybe the annual game in Wembley has boosted UK interest along with better live coverage on satellite TV but the players themselves deserve credit.

Undoubtedly the story of Denver Bronco’s quarterback Tebow has captured the imagination of fans around the globe. It’s not just his religious beliefs, it was his style of running and the fact he seemed to throw the ball all wrongly but still produced results.

The England Patriots, surely now the hot favourites for the title , ended his remarkable run in the divisional playoffs this weekend but Eli Manning’s nerveless performance for the Giants as Aaron Rodgers and the weak Packers defence fell apart means NFL’s new viewers may still be tuning in come next weekend’s Conference championships.

Manning looks a little unusual like Tebow. His helmet and shoulder pads seem way too big for his surprisingly small frame but his unerring passing accuracy and calmness under pressure at Lambeau Field, where teams are not meant to win, was remarkable.

The fact it’s the San Francisco 49ers aganst the Giants next week may also mean the worldwide NFL fanbase stays hooked. Along with the Cowboys and the Packers , the 49ers and the Giants are arguably the most well-known NFL teams outside the U.S. and the west/east coast fight adds to the allure.

The only shame? The game is being played in California. For European audiences that means a very late start. That will test the diehards.

Independiente’s barrabravas bristle at “no cash” pledge

By Rex Gowar

Argentina’s soccer hooligans appear to warm up for a new championship just like their teams with Independiente’s ‘barrabravas’ threatening trouble at an off-season friendly after being told by the club’s new administration “there is no cash”.

The impoverished giants from Avellaneda, record seven-times South American champions, voted in new president Javier Cantero last month who at once confronted the hardcore fans  and told them they would get no funds.

It is common practice in Argentina for barrabravas to demand and get match tickets and funding to travel to away matches under threat of violence in a never-ending cycle of impunity.

Independiente played San Lorenzo in a friendly on Thursday  in Mar del Plata where the barrabravas made their discontent felt with insulting chants at the board and threats against club members and peaceful fans in adjacent stands.

After a meeting with Cantero right after his election victory, barrabrava leader Pablo “Bebote” (babe) Alvarez announced his resignation as leader as if he held an official position, though he is likely to re-emerge during the Clausura championship that kicks off next month.

Cantero called the barrabravas mercenaries, which drew an angry response at Thursday’s game, and told Alvarez the club was destitute and “there is no cash for anyone”.

Va-va-voom. Vintage Henry scores on Arsenal return.

The clock said 68 minutes, and no one at the Emirates Stadium in north London was looking at the action on the pitch as the fourth official held aloft his lit-up board to signal the re-introduction of Thierry Henry to English football.

Ten minutes later and he’d scored the game’s eventual winner. Comebacks don’t get this good this often.

14 to replace 15 shone the bright numbers before the goal, but alas Henry’s former number has since been taken by young English talent Theo Walcott, who idolises the French great.

Now, for six weeks and six weeks only after which he will return to the United States with the New York Red Bulls, Henry can be seen wearing an Arsenal shirt with the number 12, the same as his France days during which he won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship.

The only numbers Arsenal fans will care about are 228, 229 and who knows, possible even into the 230s.

With a trademark movement of his right boot, Henry had added to his record Arsenal tally of 226 having watched his new teammates spurn chance after chance against Leeds United in the third round of the FA Cup.

Arsenal fans out there, does this worry you? Would you like to see Arsene Wenger bring in another striker in the January transfer window given the lack of goals?