Adrian Mutu Ordered To Pay Chelsea €17Million Compensation Rules Swiss Court

Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu has been told he will have to pay Chelsea €17million in compensation in relation to his cocaine case after losing his appeal, the Swiss Federal Court said in a statement on Monday.

Mutu was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 after he tested positive for cocaine. And, after a five year legal case, Switzerland's Supreme Court upheld the CAS decision (Court for Arbitration in Sport) that he must pay compensation to the Premier League club.

Mutu had appealed to the CAS against FIFA's decision to award Chelsea compensation following his sacking because he breached his contract.

The CAS upheld FIFA's decision last year, leaving Mutu to appeal to the Swiss court. However, their decision this morning means he will have to pay the English club.

A statement from the court reads:

"It reached the conclusion that this was not the case and the Romanian footballer's appeal was unfounded."

The Associated Press claims the striker has been ordered to pay €17,173,990 plus an annual interest of five percent applied from 2008. He will also have to pay the legal fees of €104,000.

Mutu is currently banned following a double doping test failure in January. Last week Fiorentina confirmed he was for sale.

Hamburg To Challenge Manchester United For Ballack

Following reports yesterday that Manchester United will offer Michael Ballack a one-year contract, German daily Bild claims that Hamburg are doing all that they can to lure the 33-year-old.

The Germany captain was released last week by Chelsea after four years at Stamford Bridge. Ballack had rejected a 12-month extension to his Chelsea contract, wanting a two-year deal instead.

Newspaper reports in the UK yesterday speculated that Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson would look to bring Ballack to Old Trafford for an initial year, with the option of an extension.

However, Bild claims that Hamburg have set their sights on Ballack. The club has apparently enlisted the help of billionaire supporter Klaus-Michael Kuehne, who currently lives in Switzerland, to fund the deal.

Ballack himself has refused to express a preference for Manchester United, Hamburg or any other club, telling Bild, "I have some offers… and will sort the requests in the coming week."

Ballack scored four goals in 38 appearances for Chelsea last season, but was ruled out of the World Cup having suffered an ankle injury during the FA Cup final.

Yossi Benayoun Set For Chelsea Move

Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun is close to quitting Anfield in favour of joining Premier League champions Chelsea.

The 30-year-old Israeli winger has been holding talks over a £6million switch to Stamford Bridge with Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti.

Benayoun — who scored six goals in 30 games for the Reds last season — is expected to move to west London on a four-year deal.

Last month, the former West Ham star said: "Ancelotti wants me for next season and now everything depends on Liverpool.

"Chelsea will have to pay some £6million but I believe that in the end I'll be moving there."

Chelsea Chase £16m Brazilian Striker

Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly interested in signing Brazilian striker Nilmar and is ready to make a move for the Villarreal man this summer as he looks to bring in new attacking options as long term replacements for ageing strike duo Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.

25 year old Nilmar moved to the La Liga last summer and has a decent first season at Villarreal but the Castellon side may feel the need to sell after failing to secure European football for next term. The former Lyon man is sure to be interested in a move to the Premier League champions and could feel that a move is necessary in order to further his career progression and to help force his way into the Brazilian international starting eleven.

Roman Abramovich is happy to invest in squad improvements and after removing big earners Joe Cole and Michael Ballack from the wage bill the west London club can surely afford to bring in younger players to help balance out a rapidly ageing squad.

Joe Cole Highest Paid At The Emirates

Joe Cole will be offered a massive £135,000-a-week deal with Arsenal once he returns from World Cup duty with England.

Arsene Wenger has put together a whopping financial package that would make the former Chelsea star the highest-paid player at The Emirates.

We can reveal that Cole, 28, has only to sign on a free transfer and agree a four-year package worth £20million.

The deal works out at £4m a year plus an additional £2.5m a year in signing on fees.

That is what will boost his earnings to the whopping weekly wage that would take him past wantaway Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas – on £110,000 a week – as the biggest earner at the club.

The offer is sure to wreck Harry Redknapp’s bid to try to land Cole, with Tottenham unable to match the big money Arsenal are prepared to pay.

Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool were also said to be in the frame but it is the Gunners who will get their man, as the Daily Star Sunday revealed two weeks ago.

Cole suffered a serious injury last year and when he returned from the treatment table he did not figure as much as he would have liked in Carlo Ancelotti’s sides. And the Stamford Bridge boss refused to meet Cole’s wage demands of £120,000 a week to bring him in line with Frank Lampard and John Terry.

Cole scored the decisive goal of Chelsea’s Premier League title success against rivals United at Old Trafford in April.

And he made 26 top-flight Blues appearances but only started 14. He clearly did not do enough for Ancelotti to warrant a huge pay hike.

Now speculation is rife that Cole’s arrival in north London could help Fabregas, 23, in his wish to rejoin boyhood idols Barcelona, although Wenger wants to keep the Spaniard.

A source revealed: “The offer is on the table and has been agreed in principle by both parties.

“The only way Joe won’t go to Arsenal is if he suffers an injury during the World Cup or another club comes in with an improved offer late on.

“Arsene is mindful that Joe spent a long time out with a serious knee injury but if he comes through England’s campaign in South Africa then he knows he is completely over that.

“What he likes about Joe is his versatility. It could be argued that his arrival might take the pain out of losing Fabregas to Barcelona. That and around £45m, which is what they’ll have to spend to get him.”

Chelsea Defender Branislav Ivanovic Insists Serbia Can Bounce Back

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic believes Serbia can recover from their World Cup opening 1-0 defeat against Ghana on Sunday and stun Germany in the next game.

Asamoah Gyan's 84th-minute penalty settled the match in favour of the Black Stars after Serbia had been reduced to 10 men when Aleksandar Lukovic picked up a second booking.

Serbia now face an uphill battle to make it through to the last 16 and they face a real fight on their hands in their next Group D outing against Germany, who thrashed Australia 4-0, on Friday.

Ivanovic conceded it was a major blow to lose their opening match but is optimistic his side can turn things around ahead of the clash against the Germans in Port Elizabeth.

He said: 'When you lose it's very difficult, we were playing our first game of the World Cup against a very strong team and we lost, but we have the power to recover after this game and prepare well for the next game.'

Ivanovic also still has faith his side can secure one of the top two berths in Group D and a place in the knockout stages.

'We have to think like that. We are here out at the World Cup to show how anything is possible. Germany, of course, are a very strong team so we have to show that we can play against the big teams.'

Deco Keen To Take On Drogba

Portugal midfielder Deco is hoping for a World Cup reunion with Chelsea team-mate Didier Drogba in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.

Ivory Coast striker Drogba is facing a race against time to recover from the broken arm he suffered in the run-up to the finals, and the Africans are playing their cards close to their chest ahead of the Group G clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

However, while many of his compatriots could be forgiven for hoping that the former Marseille hitman misses out, Deco will be happy to lock horns with him.

"I haven't spoken to Didier and I don't now if he is going to play tomorrow, but I hope so because he is a friend," said Deco.

"He is a good player. He's a friend of mine and a Chelsea player. If he plays, it will be good for the game. I hope he plays."

There were initial fears that Drogba's tournament could be over before it had begun when he first sustained the injury during the Ivory Coast's warm-up game against Japan in Switzerland on June 4.

But, following successful surgery, there is a growing belief that he could yet have a significant role to play in South Africa, and Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz has been in the game too long to be surprised if his name appears on the teamsheet tomorrow afternoon.

Queiroz said: "What is important for me as the coach of the Portuguese national team is to worry about my own players.

"Obviously, I'm not a doctor, so I can't sat if Didier Drogba is going to be playing. It is a fracture and the doctors from the Ivory Coast together with [coach] Mr [Sven-Goran] Eriksson will have to make that decision.

"But, after 30 years in football, there's nothing that surprises me. Whether he plays or not, nothing would surprise me."

The Portugal squad flew into Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg this afternoon and headed straight to the stadium to train, but they did so with Manchester United midfielder Nani back in Lisbon nursing a shoulder injury.

He has been quoted as saying he could be fit again within a week, sparking rumours that his departure from South Africa was for reasons other than his fitness.

They have been firmly denied by the Portuguese camp, though, and Queiroz was not being drawn into the debate today.

He said: "Tomorrow, we are going to be playing the Ivory Coast in our first game in the World Cup.

"If Nani is ready in four days, that's wonderful, but the most important thing is for us to focus on our goal tomorrow.

"So, with all due respect to Nani, that is what we are focusing on.

"We can talk about that [the Nani situation] later."

On that subject, Deco admitted he and his team-mates were in the dark.

He said: "What I heard was that he [Nani] broke his shoulder and that it would be difficult for him to be ready to play because the recuperation time would be quite long.

"As players, we don't really have that kind of information. We speak to Nani and it's obvious that any player who is out feels a lot of frustration and in his case, I am sure he's feeling that way.

"He was hoping to have played and he still hopes to be able to play."

Portugal have been drawn into a tough group with Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea, and Queiroz knows there will be a major fight for the two available berths in the last 16.

He said: "With all due respect to North Korea, there are three teams for two places.

"We could be the best three teams at the World Cup, but the regulations only allow two to go forward.

"What is important is that we win tomorrow. A World Cup is something that doesn't allow you to make mistakes, so from the beginning, we want to get the three points.

"But we have nine points to play for and the first three points are as important as the last."

Summary Of A Season: Didier Drogba

From the moment his two-goal salvo turned a deficit into victory on the opening day versus Hull, the signs were good that Didier Drogba could pick up where he left off the previous season when a drifting Chelsea career was set firmly back on course under Guus Hiddink.

The early season formation adopted by the Dutchman's successor, Carlo Ancelotti, allowed Drogba to play close to Nicolas Anelka, and he had previously expressed a preference for a strike partner. At Fulham in the second away game each set up the other for a goal in a 2-0 win.

Then at Stoke the tried and tested link up with Frank Lampard was in full working order as Drogba latched onto the midfielder's clever pass and sent a truly unstoppable left-footed drive into the far corner.

The striker was now locked into an incredibly consistent run of scoring. By Christmas he had found the net 18 times in 21 games with only seven blank matches among them.

At Wigan he scored his 100th Chelsea goal on his 225th appearance although it was also the season's first defeat. Drogba described it as the worst performance since he'd joined in 2004. He had a point.

His Champions League campaign began in a familiar fashion - with a suspension - but when he did kick-off in Europe, he looked to have turned around a match in Madrid with two goals until Atletico's Sergio Aguero struck for a second time on the night.

In late November our Number 11 was an accessory to what many marked down as the most deluded moment of the season - Arsene Wenger declaring 'Drogba didn't do much' following Chelsea's 3-0 defeat of Arsenal - our best result at their stadium since the previous visit there!

The Gunners' manager did commend the player's efficiency, which included opening the scoring, pressuring one of his defenders into an own goal and then rifling in a free-kick.

All was going well at the point and the team had a clear lead in the league table but there followed a December downturn in results before Drogba signed off for a month of international duty with a goal at home to Fulham.

Against the predictions of the doom merchants, Chelsea flourished in the absence of our Africans although the fixtures could have been tougher. Ivory Coast didn't flourish in Angola and it cost their manager his job.

On his early return to club duty at Hull, Drogba scored his third direct free-kick of the season but the result was a disappointing draw following five straight wins. The first murmured questions began. Did Carlo Ancelotti have a conundrum to think about? Does the team actually play better without their most potent attacker?

There was no doubting he was to be first on the team sheet for the next game - Arsenal at home - and he duly landed another double whammy on the north Londoners. The second goal was Drogba at his rampaging best and made it 12 goals in 12 games against Arsenal.

Results were up and down in February and March. Drogba went three games without scoring which was a close as he came to a barren spell in 2009/10. Anelka's goals following a healthy December and January, had dried up completely.

As Champions League ambition faded once again, Drogba was sent off near the end of defeat by Inter, maintaining his now nearly traditional ban for the start of the next Euro campaign. It was his one red card of the season.

Having scored two at Portsmouth a week later, Drogba was rested for a visit by Villa which Chelsea won 7-1. It was the game before a potentially season-defining match at Old Trafford, and in the days in between he suffered injury and missed some training.

Recovered sufficiently to make the journey, the manager decided to use his top scorer as a second-half substitute and reaped the reward. A good team performance throughout was capped by what proved to be a Drogba winner.

By now, and like so many previous seasons, back in the middle of a three-man attack, the lacklustre display at Spurs was happily a blip in the season's run-in.

The high-scoring victories (of which there were a few) had strangely been by achieved by a Drogba-less team line-up, but that was remedied when he was part of a 7-0 win over Stoke , even if he didn't make the score sheet that day.

A Steven Gerrard assist at Liverpool put Chelsea on the threshold of the league title and Drogba poised to snatch the Golden Boot out of the grasp of Wayne Rooney.

An historic 8-0 win and a second-half hat-trick was the way to do it, even if the first 45 minutes did contain a moment of anxiety about his personal tally for our centre-forward.

His winner in the FA Cup Final meant the season had a pair of Ivorian bookends - a Drogba goal at its start and at its finish.

Voted Player of the Year by the fans, Drogba's 37 goals is the second best total in Chelsea history and included strikes at Anfield, the Emirates and Old Trafford. He also notched his sixth goal in six Wembley finals and seventh in all cup finals - a club record.

Now aged 32 and with (if his broken arm allows) a World Cup campaign this summer, there will be people doubting Drogba has another season in him like the trophy and goal-laden one just past.

Marcel Desailly Tells Ancelotti To Buy Big

Chelsea legend Marcel Desailly has urged manager Carlo Ancelotti to buy a big name to ensure they stay at the top.

“If they don’t, then I will worry about them,” he said.

The French World Cup winner warned the Blues not to rest on their laurels after last season’s Double triumph.

He claims it’s more important a five-star player arrives now they’ve lost Joe Cole, although he was not surprised when Chelsea released veteran Michael Ballack.

Desailly, 41, won the World and European Cups, and two Champions League trophies before joining Chelsea in 1998, playing 159 league games for the Blues.

He said: “The next Chelsea signing will be so important. When I was at AC Milan we won the title and the Champions League.

“We thought we were untouchable, maybe even thinking it was easy. Yet they went out and signed George Weah, then the best player in the world. ‘Pow!’ It hit us. Here we thought we couldn’t get better then he arrived and we were up and running again. He lifted us from our settees.

“The club needed it, I needed it. We felt strong once more, ready to go forward.

“The following year five Dutchmen arrived, top names but somehow it didn’t work in the same way as Weah.

“So that is why Chelsea’s next signing must be a significant one. A world-class player, no matter what the cost.

“You can’t fight off age, so some need a boost. It must come in the way of a Weah.”

Mourinho Has No Intention Of Selling Kaka To Chelsea

New Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is not looking to offload Brazilian star Kaka to Chelsea and instead is convinced that he can bring the best out of the 28-year-old.

Kaka struggled at Real Madrid last season, following his £56million switch from AC Milan last summer. A troublesome thigh injury limited Kaka’s chances at the Bernebeu.

There has been speculation that Kaka would welcome a reunion with his former AC Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, having failed to make an impact at Real Madrid. Under Ancelotti, Kaka enjoyed a highly successful spell at the San Siro, becoming one of the world's top players. It has been reported that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has sanctioned a £50million bid for Kaka.

However, Spanish daily Marca reports this morning that Mourinho has instructed Bernabeu officials not to listen to any offers for the Brazilian and that the 'special one' is convinced that he can return Kaka to his best form.

Marca quotes Mourinho saying, "Kaka has lost esteem in recent months, but there will be no problem returning him to his best. A player needs to have a high level of confidence."

Chelsea Leading Manchester City In Chase For Silva

According to this morning's News of the World, Chelsea have edged ahead of Manchester City in the race to sign Valencia's David Silva.

Silva has been at Valencia for almost his entire career and has established himself as one of Spain's top players. In 2009/2010, the 24-year-old scored nine goals and provided ten assists in 38 appearances for financially stricken Valencia. With six goals in 33 internationals, Silva is expected to star for Spain during the World Cup.

Valencia recently sold David Villa to Barcelona for £40million, but the cash-strapped club need to offload further stars and Silva is expected to fetch a price of at least £20million.

Although Manchester City are apparently able to offer Silva a bigger salary than Chelsea, Silva is more interested in signing for Chelsea, who can offer him Champions League football next season.

Silva's agent, Amadeo Rengel said, "The option of Chelsea is the most interesting in terms of the sporting project."

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is keen to add top names to his squad, which would show the ambition of the club, despite the failure to secure Champions League football last season.

Meanwhile, Valencia president Manuel Llorente has refused to rule out a move for Silva to any club, saying candidly, "We have received calls about Silva but no concrete offers.

"Right now nothing is out of the question because we need to safeguard the future of the club."

Serbia And Chelsea Defender Branislav Ivanovic Admits To Nerves

Chelsea full back Branislav Ivanovic has admitted that nerves are playing a big part in Serbia’s training camp ahead of their opening game of the world cup against Ghana.

Speaking about the mood among the players as the nation prepares itself for their first world cup as an independent country, Ivanovic said: "It's the normal thing, we're feeling a little bit nervous before the start of the World Cup because for every player it's very important to play at the World Cup.

"We're feeling nervous but we're positive and I think we're ready."

Talking at a press conference, Ivanovic continued by saying it is a major plus for his side that they will not be lining up against Blues team-mate Michael Essien in the Group D game.

"Mike [Michael Essien] is a fantastic player, and it's very difficult for him because he has two big injuries and he cannot take a risk but for us it's good of course that he can't play. For me I think he's one of the best midfielders in the world."

Essien was ruled out of the tournament after failing to recover from knee and ankle injuries that have seen him not play competitive football since December.

Serbia finished above 1998 world champions and 2006 runners-up France as they finished top of group seven in the qualifying for the world cup, collecting 22 points and only conceding 8 goals in the process.

Frank Lampard And Steven Gerrard Prove They Can Play Together

Too similar, some will say. They get in each other’s way. It has to be one or the other for the sake of the team.

During the World Cup qualifying period, the issue died down because Fabio Capello kept them apart by using Gerrard on the left and Lampard in more of a holding role in central midfield. All was fine and dandy.

It was different on Saturday night against USA though. The Liverpool and Chelsea boys were paired again, slap bang in the middle of a four-man midfield. Would they work things out for this crucial opening game?

Well, it took only four minutes to get some kind of an answer, that’s if creating a goal counts in any way. Both were involved. First, Lampard received Glen Johnson’s throw-in about 30 yards from goal before trying to find Wayne Rooney.

The effort didn’t find its target and Lampard was arguably fouled as he released the ball but, fortunately for England, his attempted pass ran through to Emile Heskey who, for all the criticism he has received down the years, knew exactly what to do with his first-time lay-off. It was perfect and justified Capello’s decision to start him.

And here comes the main point. Gerrard had made one of his trademark forward runs that we all know so well. The perfectly timed sort that cuts through a rearguard into the penalty box.

Not only that, he made that run because he was working off Lampard. His partner, admittedly, was in a fairly advanced position, but it wasn’t far enough forward to discourage England’s captain.

One touch to set it, the second to clinically finish. After only four minutes, Gerrard had made a convincing argument for the possible efficiency of this partnership.

More promising still, Gerrard went on to enjoy a fantastic first half, tearing about like a man on a mission, which, of course, he was.

Bombing forward, tackling back, while Lampard, in the main, played a more conservative role by holding his position, only venturing forward at the right time.

That’s all it took - a bit of common sense.

As for whether this axis will continue into the next game against Algeria on Friday, well, you have to doubt it.

When push comes to shove, Capello prefers a more conservative style in that area. Gareth Barry is likely to return and resume his previously successful partnership with Lampard.

Still, it was good while it lasted. That is until Robert Green’s dreadful howler five minutes before half-time changed everything.

Apart from perhaps closing down Clint Dempsey quicker, there was nothing either Gerrard or Lampard could do about that.

John Terry Leads The Support For Captain Steven Gerrard

England captains have been hard to come by in the build up to the World Cup with Rio Ferdinand following former skipper David Beckham on to the sidelines.

That has left the path clear for Gerrard to lead the team out when England start their campaign against the USA. This brings the Liverpool midfielder full circle having worn the captain's armband in Fabio Capello's first game in charge against Switzerland.

And despite the serious injuries to Ferdinand and Beckham this is the most experienced team England has ever had and there are natural born leaders all over the pitch.

"I am the captain, but I am surrounded by other captains," said Gerrard. Out of the 23-man squad nine of them have captained their clubs.

This is no coincidence; Capello has opted for a group of players oozing with guile and experience. The average age of the squad is just over 28 years and seven months, which is the oldest in South Africa, and is something the Italian will draw confidence from.

The combined total number of caps comes to 1,386 and that is before you take into account Ferdinand's 78 and Beckham's outfield record of 115. Providing Manchester United allow Ferdinand to return to South Africa next week the injured pair will be with the squad for the duration of the World Cup.

Fifteen of Capello's squad figured heavily during both Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren's spells in charge of the national team. What is more the core of the squad has not changed since Euro 2004.

So, it is clear Gerrard is the captain but he is not the only leader.

"I'm in this position (as captain) because managers see that I'm a good captain," said Gerrard.

"They like they way I am around the place and what I do on the pitch, so I'll do things exactly the same. I feel I have the respect of the players. I'm here to give them any help they feel they need.

"But I've got so many experienced people around me. There's the manager himself, Stuart Pearce and he's been there and done it. I can lean on David Beckham and Rio's still here with us. John Terry's a big captain too.

"The squad's littered with leaders who will lead by example. I may not be a loudmouth off the pitch but if any players want to lean on me or talk to me about anything, or they want to me to go to the manager and speak on their behalf about anything, I'm not shy."

With Terry and, provided he is selected, David James behind him Gerrard also has his vice-captain, Frank Lampard alongside him in midfield and of course Wayne Rooney upfront.

Rooney captained England against Brazil last November and will undoubtedly be an England captain in the future.

Despite Terry being stripped of the captaincy back in Febuary he is still every bit of the leader on and off the pitch.

"The armband would suit him (Terry) very well because he continues to be a leader," said Capello. "it's as if he is still wearing it now."

The Chelsea captain remains resolute and focused on his role for both club and country.

"Nothing will ever change at Chelsea or with England," he said. "In the dressing room I will still give my opinion. The same on the field. I'll make my presence felt, whether I'm wearing the armband or not. I will say what needs to be said.

"Losing Rio was a blow, but that just makes it more important that I show that leadership quality, too. At every level I play, whether it is in training or on the pitch, I demand the same as the manager. That is the minimum that we should be asking of everyone. We all accept that."

Three Blues For Lions But All-Square With The States

John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, as expected, played the full 90 minutes of England's opening World Cup match.

In a 4-4-2 selection, Lampard was paired in the middle with Steven Gerrard who scored in a 1-1 draw against the USA.

That was the opener and it came inside four minutes but it did not set England on their way as it should have done. Despite looking the more dangerous side, it was a performance that left hanging many of the question marks over the side's chances that were there prior to this tournament.

Not least is the quality of the goalkeeping with West Ham's Rob Green conceding a horror equaliser six minutes before half time when he failed to stop a routine straight shot. The scorer was Fulham's Clint Dempsey who has caused pain for Chelsea in the past.

Another question mark has been the fitness of whoever partners Terry in central defence and Ledley King was replaced at half time by Jamie Carragher, and then there is the centre-forward position and although Emile Heskey's link-up play against the States was good, he struck the best scoring chance of the game straight at keeper Tim Howard.

Terry's performance was pretty much impeccable and Ashley Cole was defensively sound, if a little reserved in pushing forward against Landon Donovan. When Cole did attack with menace into the area shortly before the interval, his cross was blocked.

Lampard, with plenty of defensive duties too, had few chances to score but he did work Howard just past the hour. His left-foot shot was tipped over, and after later striking a free-kick too high, was challenged well in front of goal when taking a return from Aaron Lennon with time running out.

Lennon was on the right of midfield and Joe Cole missed out on selection on the left to James Milner. When the Aston Villa man was taken off before half-an-hour was up, Cole was passed over as substitute in favour of Shaun Wright-Phillips. Not on his favoured right side, the former Chelsea winger did not impress.

England failed to create much in the first half following the early goal which came about when Lampard took a Glen Johnson throw and his pass found its way to Heskey. Turned into Gerrard's path, it was good finish from England's latest captain.

The United States caused some concern with aerial crosses into the England area and for Fabio Capello's side, Johnson almost hit back straight after the equaliser, but the bulk of the opportunities were second half.

Green did well to turn a shot from former Hull striker Jozy Altidore onto the post, Wright-Phillips made it easy for Howard when well-placed, and Heskey headed his second chance over.

Wayne Rooney finished the game strongly and England will take some comfort from the quality of some parts of their game although they picked up bookings for Milner, Carragher and Gerrard.

It was a familiar stuttering start to an England World Cup campaign.

Jeffrey Bruma's Progress Will Help End The Debate Over Frank Arnesen

Frank Arnesen's fiercest critics argue he should have left Chelsea a long time ago. They scrutinise his role as sporting director at Stamford Bridge and consider it a surprise he has not gone already.

But the former Denmark international remains with the Premier League champions - and his value to the club will become apparent in the coming season in the wake of the decision to release Joe Cole and Michael Ballack at the end of their contracts.

Carlo Ancelotti is not expected to make radical changes to his squad, with the Chelsea manager planning to promote some of the youth players Arnesen has scouted and nurtured. Judgement day is looming for Arnesen's ability to locate young talent.

Jeffrey Bruma is one of his recruits, so is Gael Kakuta, the controversial signing from Lens who led to Chelsea being suspended from registering players, only for the ban to be lifted.

It has been a long wait for Arnesen's players to establish themselves at Chelsea. He played a key role in signing Mikel John Obi and Salomon Kalou but they were on the radar of most scouts in Europe. Mikel almost ended up playing for Manchester United, while Kalou played with Feyenoord.

Arnesen was expected to find youngsters for Chelsea managers to place in the first team, to try to match the production line at West Ham where they found Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Cole and Frank Lampard in one generation.

On one hand, the future looks bright because Arnesen's youngsters won the FA Youth Cup by defeating Aston Villa, with Marko Mitrovic and captain Conor Clifford getting the crucial goals in the second leg. Sam Hutchinson has also shown promise in his three appearances last season for the first team.

But there was also the news of Turkish side Fenerbahce signing Miroslav Stoch, another player who failed to make an impact after being brought to the club under Arnesen's watch.

The 20-year-old made five appearances in four years and Chelsea fans never saw the best of the Slovakia international. They will be hoping for more from the likes of Fabio Borini and Kakuta next season, as Ancelotti may not have any other options.

Has Roman Abramovich’s £300m Super-Yacht Dream Hit The Rocks?

When you are one of the richest men on the planet like Chelsea FC boss Roman Abramovich, you expect your new £329 million super-yacht to be perfect.

But the shipbuilders have been unable to meet the exacting standards of the 43-year-old Russian and the luxury vessel is languishing in a German yard six months after it was due to be delivered.

German company Blohm & Voss built the 560ft, 13,000-ton MY Eclipse – the world’s largest ever private yacht – at their Hamburg yard and it was due to be handed over to Mr. Abramovich last Christmas.

But a list of problems has led to disagreements between Mr. Abramovich, the world’s 11th richest man with a fortune estimated at £7.6 billion, and the company, which now faces a bill of tens of millions of pounds to rectify the faults.

The problems are said to include a giant mirror on one of the nine decks being smashed during tests in the North Sea. And Austrian crystal glasses purchased for Mr. Abramovich’s dinner guests are said to have ‘rattled’ when the electro-diesel engines vibrated. It is claimed the vibrations have also spread to Mr. Abramovich’s personal deck.

There has also been a row over demands by Mr. Abramovich that leopard and reptile skins used on chairs and to line the walls of a massage room should be ethically sourced.

And the parties are also said to be in dispute about who should pay for shifting the location of a helicopter landing pad.

Recently, additional problems have emerged over a French-made navigation system and paint flaking on some of the decks. One source said: ‘It shows even the dreams of a billionaire can burst.’
German sources said that Blohm & Voss had not drawn up a sufficiently watertight contract with Mr. Abramovich, to the extent that it even failed to state which colour the yacht should be painted and the type of paint that would be used.

Suggestions that Mr. Abramovich had wanted to sail to the World Cup in South Africa on board the Eclipse were denied by sources close to the Chelsea boss last night.
But, as the yacht undergoes more sea trials, it may not even be ready for his 70-strong crew to sail in time for his summer holidays.

Last week, Mr. Abramovich flew to South Africa on a private jet to support Russia’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. He plans to return to watch some of the matches but, again, will fly there rather than cruise in one of his three other yachts.

The Eclipse is 36ft longer than the world’s previous biggest private yacht, Dubai, owned by Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of the Middle Eastern country of the same name.

It has two helicopter pads, 11 guest cabins, two swimming pools, several hot tubs, a disco hall, three launch boats and a mini-submarine capable of submerging up to 165ft. It is fitted with intruder detection alarms and a missile defence system. The yacht has 6,000 sq ft of living space and 600 doors and is also equipped with an ‘anti-paparazzi shield’ which is activated by flashlight. Lasers fire a bolt of light directly at cameras to obliterate any photographs.

The windows in Mr. Abramovich’s master suite and the yacht’s bridge are fitted with bullet-proof glass and are armour-plated.

A spokeswoman for ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, which owns Blohm & Voss, said: ‘It is our policy never to comment on clients.’

A spokesman for Mr. Abramovich said: ‘We never comment on personal matters.’

Summary Of A Season: John Obi Mikel

For the second season running it was unclear at the start who the manager intended to be the main deep-lying midfielder, but for the second season again, injury to Michael Essien ensured John Mikel Obi became the number one choice.

On return from the Africa Cup of Nations in February, Mikel started every game until his own knee and ankle problems in mid-April ruled him out of the season's two-trophy climax.

In the opening games, Carlo Ancelotti accommodated both Mikel and Essien, the latter playing further forward in a diamond formation, but Mikel was taken off early in the Community Shield and the league opener v Hull and he was dropped for the first away game at Sunderland, but rotated straight back in at Fulham where an uncharacteristic shot from 25 yards that flew just inches wide was as close as he came to scoring all season.

At Wigan in late September as the team's perfect start to the season ended in 3-1 defeat, the Nigerian suffered ankle damage which ruled him out for two months.

His second match back was a toughie - away in Porto against a team traditionally strong at home. Chelsea won 1-0.

'The defence is in a good moment because the midfield in front is working very well and today Mikel did a fantastic match,' Ancelotti said afterwards and retained the player for the big win at Arsenal that followed, although then left him on the bench for the first hour of defeat at Man City.

In December's run of narrow league wins and draws Mikel was involved in every game without playing a single full 90 minutes.

Nigeria were hardly favourites for the Africa Cup of Nations, having only just scraped into the World Cup at the end of qualifying a couple of months earlier, but they were a surprise package, eventually losing to an Essien-less Ghana in the semi-finals.

For Mikel there was an unfamiliar role of playmaker just behind the Nigeria strikers, more a reflection on his nation's paucity in that position than a flowering of attacking ambition in the Chelsea man. His close friend Salomon Kalou described seeing Mikel play Number 10 as 'his funniest moment of the week' on this website.

All that said, when the 23-year-old returned to Chelsea, there was a fresh impetus to his game. He enjoyed one of his best spells of form yet with enterprising long passing in evidence - culminating in a wonderful assist for Didier Drogba to score at Portsmouth. John Terry's celebration with Mikel left no-one in any doubt that the captain admired the pass.

At home to Arsenal in February he played his 150th Chelsea game and by the end of the season had his first league championship winners' medal, although he missed the final three league games and the FA Cup Final. Initially injured by a Kevin Davies foul against Bolton, he broke down a week later at Tottenham, an injury that would eventually deprive him of his first World Cup.

Mikel's own on-pitch discipline problems are long behind him. He was only booked four times in a campaign spent in a highly-competitive area of the pitch.

Ancelotti has revealed he was a similar player in a similar position in his youth and predicts much to come from his player. With injuries hopefully healed over the summer, it will be fascinating to see how Mikel and Essien fit into the 2010/11 midfield.

Joe Cole's Chelsea Departure A Product Of UEFA's New Initiatives

The England playmaker has a lot of friends at Stamford Bridge but with clubs urged to tighten their belts there was only going to be one outcome.

The announcement that Joe Cole is to leave Chelsea when his contract runs out at the end of June was hardly the biggest surprise in the football world yet it would be interesting to find out the reasons behind his departure.

It is clear that his lack of starting opportunities in the latter part of the Blues’ double-winning season must have had a bearing on his decision with the gifted playmaker largely being reduced to cameos from the substitutes’ bench.

One match he did start was the pivotal match at Old Trafford in early April where he opened the scoring with an outrageous back-heel.

That moment seemed to make his rehabilitation complete but he was only to start one more Premier League match – the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham that so nearly derailed the west Londoners’ title challenge.

Malouda: Sub Role Highly Frustrating

Florent Malouda found it "frustrating" to be kept on the bench until the last 15 minutes of Friday night's World Cup stalemate with Uruguay.

France failed to win in their opening group match for the third successive World Cup as Raymond Domenech's mis-firing side failed to find a way past their Group A opponents at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.

Domenech deployed Malouda, Thierry Henry and Andre Pierre Gignac off the bench but the Chelsea forward admits it was disappointing to come on with just 15 minutes left.

"It's frustrating," he said. "But that's life. I hope I get a chance to show my quality.

"Hopefully we can take this (point) as an opportunity to move on. That will be important."

After Group A rivals South Africa and Mexico drew 1-1 in yesterday's early match, Domenech believes it is they who hold the advantage.

"We lacked that last bit, the last pass," Domenech admitted. "We had to guard against an unlucky counter (by the opposition).

"It is almost a beautiful 0-0, but the result is what it is. They were good, solid in defence."

Uruguay striker Diego Forlan had a few opportunities for the South Americans, whose emphasis was on keeping tight and looking to counter.

France, though, had chances to win the game, not least in the seventh minute when winger Sidney Govou somehow side-footed wide from close range after Franck Ribery's teasing left-wing cross.

The outgoing France boss added: "The other two have the advantage."

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, whose side were not bullied in terms of possession by the 1998 champions, said: "The pitch was not particularly good. It created some problems for us controlling the ball.

"Bearing in mind what happened in the game and that France, a recent world champion who are very well organised and prepared, I think it is not a bad result, bearing all this in mind.

"The results in the second round of matches are now more important because both opening matches ended in draws."

Tabarez was forced to defend his team's discipline on the eve of the match and had to do the same last night after substitute Nicolas Lodeiro was sent off for two bookings.

"I think football is one thing, and behaviour on the pitch is a different kettle of fish," he said. "Theoretically, any card is avoidable but I was once a player and I know what it is like to be out there. So I understand my players' point of view."