THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS

Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra is looking increasingly likely to join Inter Milan in the summer, according to the Corriere dello Sport. The Mali international has been tipped to leave Madrid for quite sometime now due to his frosty relationship with Coach Bernd Schuster. Things took another turn for the worse yesterday when it was revealed that Diarra had been fined €300,000, a month's wages, for returning to Spain late from the African Cup of Nations. With Schuster seemingly set to exclude him from his team for tonight's match with Recreativo, despite injuries to Guti and Wesley Sneijder, an end of season exit is looking inevitable. Inter have identified the signing of a top-class centre midfielder as their priority in this summer's transfer market, and Roberto Mancini's first-choice is Diarra. Yesterday the player's agent, Frederic Guerra, admitted that a move to Inter was very possible."Milan, Liverpool and Juve have all called, but the team that in

Boca Juniors playmaker Juan Román Riquelme has stated that he never considered another life outside of football and that if he was reborn he would still want to come back as himself. Speaking after filming an advert for Adidas, Riquelme made it clear that football was the only route in life he ever considered and that he loves playing the game for living. "This is what I dreamed of from when I was very small... it enchants me to live this life, it is wonderful and it has given me more than I could ever have hoped. For that reason if I could return to my birth I would still be Riquelme," he told Olé. Although he always dreamed of playing football, Riquelme insisted that the fame that comes with it was never his primary motivation. "No, it took a while for me to get used to people praising my ability. I know that I bring something unique to the football pitch when I play the game and that brings attention. In the time I have been a football player I avoided seeking out att

Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva has surprisingly revealed he does not remember the incident in which he broke his leg very well, and declared he never wants to see it on TV or in the newspapers... The striker, who celebrates his 25th birthday on Monday, suffered the injury just three minutes into Arsenal's Premier League game against Birmingham, following a challenge from Martin Taylor, who was sent off for the offense. The players' reaction was one of absolute shock, as the game was frantic following the eight minute stoppage that was required to remove the player from the field. The match ended in a disappointing draw for Arsenal, who let Manchester United back into the title race as a plucky Birmingham side forced men forward and won a last-minute penalty to pull it back to 2-2 for Birmingham. However, all thoughts were with Eduardo during and after the game, and speaking to the club's official website, he has revealed that he barely remembers the incident, possibly due

Gila monster shakes the monkey off his back Alberto Gilardino finally broke his goal-scoring duck this weekend, but some of his critics are yet to be convinced. By: Paolo Bandini Typical - you wait 171 days for a goal, and then two come along at once. To be fair they do say that an adult Gila monster can go a whole winter without eating, but after a five-and-a-half month goal famine in Serie A, Milan's Alberto was beginning to look decidedly worse for wear. When he finally broke his duck yesterday, threading the ball through Fernando Muslera's legs for the fourth goal in Milan's 5-1 rout of Lazio (he would add the fifth nine minutes later), Gilardino scarcely managed to hold back the tears as he was mobbed by his team-mates. "There's been a summer in between," he protested when he was reminded of his lengthy drought after the game. "I can't exactly score when I'm not playing!" His demeanour betrayed him - the trademark haunted eyes and perma-

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy refused to let injury prevent him from celebrating Real Madrid's title success with the rest of his team-mates last night. Van Nistelrooy, La Liga's leading scorer this season with 25 strikes, only lasted 33 minutes of Madrid's title decider with Real Mallorca after limping off with a hamstring injury. That looked to be a huge blow for Madrid, who were trailing 1-0 at the time while title rivals Barcelona were well on their way to an eventual 5-1 thrashing of Gimnastic Tarragona. But Madrid managed to recover from the loss of the prolific Dutchman, and two second-half strikes from Jose Antonio Reyes and an own goal from Angelos Basinas earned Fabio Capello's men a 3-1 win and their 30th league title. Van Nistelrooy, who joined the club from United last summer, may not have finished the game, or won the European golden boot - he needed to score twice to pip Roma's Francesco Totti - but the Dutchman was not about to

Liverpool's players will stride out into the muggy heat of the Olympic stadium this evening with one final rallying cry from their captain ringing in their ears. "We do not want to leave Athens upset and with regrets that we have not brought the European Cup home," said Steven Gerrard. "We want to make history, be heroes and come home as winners." Memories of Istanbul two years ago will abound at kick-off tonight as Gerrard, the inspiration behind Liverpool's comeback at the Ataturk, leads his team out against a Rossoneri line-up primed for revenge. The midfielder usually revels on such stages, having been instrumental in claiming the Champions League and the FA Cup under Rafael Benítez, and any notion that the Merseysiders' motivation is any less in pursuit of a sixth European Cup was dismissed. This team may have enjoyed consistent successes in cup competitions in recent years but the hunger remains. To win one final was absolutely magnificent but to d

Samuel Eto'o has rubbished newspaper speculation linking him with a £30m summer move to the Premiership by insisting he will "definitely be at Barcelona next season". During the last few months Eto'o, the three-time African footballer of the year, has looked increasing unhappy at the Nou Camp. He has a brooding, often distant relationship with Ronaldinho, and he fell out with coach Frank Rijkaard after refusing to come on as a late substitute against Racing Santander. During the last few months Eto'o, the three-time African footballer of the year, has looked increasing unhappy at the Nou Camp. He has a brooding, often distant relationship with Ronaldinho, and he fell out with coach Frank Rijkaard after refusing to come on as a late substitute against Racing Santander. But despite regularly dropping hints that he'd like to play in England - in March he openly flirted with the idea of a move to Liverpool in FourFourTwo and the Daily Mirror - Eto'o now insist

Paolo Maldini is seeking a fifth European Cup tonight before the years finally catch him up. Column by Richard Williams At the back of the room, behind the row of television cameras, there is a small commotion as a door opens. Il capitano, someone says. And as Paolo Maldini walks in, the smiling master of all the surveys and the very embodiment of la bella figura, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he may be the only footballer currently active whose entrance can provoke the instinctive urge to rise to one's feet. A month away from his 39th birthday, Maldini is the living symbol of a club he joined when he was 10 years old. Now Milan's leader on the pitch is looking forward to his eighth European Cup final, a run which began in 1989, when he was still a teenager. He has been a winner on four occasions and a loser on three. "I don't intend to equalise the score in Athens," he says. Over the last three weeks he has been undergoing daily treatment for the long-

By: James Ducker Premiership defenders received the news that none of them will have wanted to hear yesterday: Kaká wants to play in England. But not before the AC Milan playmaker has tried to persuade Cristiano Ronaldo to join the Italian giants. Manchester United’s Champions League semi-final against Milan had been billed as a battle between the world’s two best players, but while Kaká won that contest hands down as he inspired the Serie A team to a 5-3 aggregate victory, the Brazilian is keen to play in the same team as the United and Portugal winger. “He should transfer to Milan, then we could play together,” Kaká said yesterday. “You never know.” Seemingly more likely, however, is the prospect of Kaká playing in the Barclays Premiership, although to judge from his performances — and three goals — over the two legs against United, that spells bad news for defenders. “I love the competition, the challenge. There are many big teams,” he said. “Three English teams made the last four o

Argentina international Carlos Tevez has hinted that he could stay with West Ham United next season and says he has been delighted with the support he has received from the club's fans. Tevez and his compatriot Javier Mascherano moved to Upton Park in a controversial deal last August that prompted a Premier League investigation because of their association with the MSI group. Although the Hammers were last week found to have been guilty of irregularities surrounding the transfers, they avoided a points deduction. Tevez has played a key role in the team's recent good form which has lifted hopes that Alan Curbishley's side could still avoid the drop. "There is a possibility I could stay," he told the club's official website. "It is a case of sitting down with the directors of West Ham to sort out a few things, but certainly there is a chance I could stay with the club. "The fine and everything surrounding my transfer is something for West Ham and the l