Indeed the Englishman acknowledged as much before his practice round yesterday saying: I’m honoured

Indeed, the Englishman acknowledged as much before his practice round yesterday, saying: “I’m honoured.” It was a simple expression from the 1998 champion, but the perfect one. Because this is the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and this is the first major sporting event to take place in the city since Katrina did its worst in August last year No, Westwood has never been so privileged. In terms of history it will not quite rank up there in the pantheon of “one giant golf shot for mankind” alongside Neil Armstrong’s, but Lee Westwood’s drive at 7.15am today will have infinitely more resonance than your usual opening tee shot at a PGA Tour event. Frank Rijkaard, determined not to risk a similar fate, had insisted that Barcelona did not sit on their lead and they declined to do so in a game played at the pace of a Premiership encounter with perhaps four times the skill.. Henry will also require considerably more support than in the semi-final defeat of Villarreal on Tuesday from team-mates who may have hands and feet full coping with a midfield that could yet include either Lionel Messi or Xavi, both currently injured.It was a measure of the visitors’ task, which they came close to achieving, that only Ajax had ever overturned a home defeat in the semi-finals of this competition. Thierry Henry, coveted by Bar? will certainly fancy his chances against the often ponderous partnership of Carles Puyol and Rafael Marquez.

The Arsenal manager, Ars? Wenger, who was among the rapturous crowd of 95,661 last night, will have noted that on the evidence of these two games Barcelona’s adventurous approach will give his team a chance and could make for an encounter as thrilling as this one. Milan, having suffered a 1-0 defeat after wasting several chances in the home leg last week, were denied parity when Shevchenko’s header in the second half was controversially disallowed. So Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be standing between Arsenal and their first European Cup in Paris in three weeks’ time, rather than Andrei Shevchenko, Kaka and Jaap Stam. The move was aimed at helping the England defender seal his place in Sven Goran Eriksson’s World Cup squad for the finals in Germany this summer.Bridge, who cost Chelsea £7m when he joined them from Southampton in July 2003, has impressed during his time with Fulham and Coleman said he would like to seal a permanent deal for the 25-year-old.”He’s one of the guys and he has fitted in well in the dressing-room,” Coleman said “I don’t know if I can get him but I would love to But that decision will be made by Chelsea.”. Coleman’s Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho is planning his summer transfers, with the Germany captain, Michael Ballack, set to be the first arrival, on a free transfer from Bayern Munich.
Although Mourinho’s side are on the verge of retaining the Premiership title, he has admitted they have not improved on last season and there are question marks over the future of the wingers Damien Duff and Arjen Robben and the defenders Ricardo Carvalho, Asier del Horno, Paulo Ferreira and Geremi.Chelsea have been linked with a renewed move for the Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole, while Mourinho may rekindle his interest in Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o, a player he has admired for some time.Bridge may also join the exodus after leaving Stamford Bridge for Fulham on a temporary basis last January. The Argentinian playmaker had, Henry said, been put off by the discussion he had with his goalkeeper in the seconds before the spot-kick.. Chelsea’s summer clear-out could result in the England defender Wayne Bridge leaving if the Fulham manager, Chris Coleman, can find the money to turn his loan spell at Craven Cottage into a permanent transfer.

With 88 minutes gone, Riquelme stepped up to strike a shot to Lehmann’s left, only for the Arsenal goalkeeper to guess correctly and palm the ball out to earn Arsenal a 1-0 aggregate win over Villarreal in the Champions’ League semi-final and a place at the Stade de France in Paris on 17 May. Going his own way has been a consistent theme in Lehmann’s career, but only recently has it started to reap such handsome rewards.. It was the save that won Arsenal a place in the European Cup final and Thierry Henry has revealed how he believes his conversation with Jens Lehmann moments before Juan Roman Riquelme’s penalty-kick for Villarreal on Tuesday night was the key to the German goalkeeper’s success – even though he ignored Henry’s advice. Lehmann listens to his captain, nods his head and then completely disregards Henry’s words. The story of Arsenal’s Champions’ League penalty-saving hero is a remarkable odyssey through despair and triumph for a man whom even his fellow Germans have accused of being arrogant. El Madrigal stadium on Tuesday night, 88 minutes gone and Thierry Henry walks over to Lehmann to offer him some advice on saving the most important penalty in the history of Arsenal Football Club. Not many international goalkeepers have been booed by their own nation’s fans less than a year before the World Cup finals, but then not many international goalkeepers are like Jens Lehmann.

Nothing comes between that and us wanting to win football matches.”. Somebody made me aware of that and Gareth did, and I just said, ‘It’s not an issue’.”I’ve not read it, I don’t want to read it. We know what we have in this football club, the relationship I have with Gareth and what he brings to this football club. It was disappointing to miss one opportunity on Sunday, but to be perfectly honest, to make a European final, to actually get this far, is a fantastic achievement.”But we are not satisfied with that, we want to go one step further and make sure we get into that final because that would be such a great profile for this club.”Gareth Southgate will be a key figure, and McClaren has dismissed talk of unrest in the squad after the Boro captain suggested in an interview at the weekend that, among other things, his manager was not yet ready for the England job.McClaren said: “I haven’t seen them [Southgate's comments]. However, it could once again be his strikers who could prove the difference between success and failure.Mark Viduka, who has missed the last two games with a thigh problem, is back in training. Although McClaren hinted publicly that Viduka may not start, he is privately confident that the Australian will be able to play some role in the game.McClaren said: “We have worked so hard, not just this season, but every season we have been here to get to this situation. Although the Teessiders trail only 1-0, they showed enough at the Lia Manoliu Stadium last week to demonstrate they will be a major threat.Steaua, who were European champions 20 years ago, will be without suspended duo Banel Nicolita and Sorin Paraschiv, but they could recall striker Victorias Iakob after his return from long-term injury.McClaren, meanwhile, will give Brad Jones the task of deputising for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who fractured his cheekbone in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to West Ham on Sunday.

“It’s heightened now, obviously, because of the vacancy, but there’s no added pressure, there are no distractions. It doesn’t affect me at all.”It will take a large effort, even for a Boro side who produced an a superb fightback to squeeze past Basle in the last round. But, he said, England has simply not been on his agenda.
“This speculation, the hype about England and about Middlesbrough, I’ve lived with this for five years,” he said. McClaren will lead Middlesbrough into tonight’s Uefa Cup semi-final second leg against Steaua Bucharest at the Riverside having occupied most of the back pages for several weeks.