Torres, who last month pledged his future to the club amid speculation linking him with a move away, also confirmed more than one team had a bid turned down for him this summer.

Reiterating his commitment to Liverpool, where he is contracted until 2013, the 26-year-old said he is desperate to help bring success back to Anfield. For that to happen, Torres believes the club’s owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, must complete their proposed sale of the club as soon as possible.

“It’s fundamental new owners arrive who can make us a competitive side,” he told the Spanish radio station Cadena Cope. “We’re not that far behind. We had an appalling season last time around, but the year before we were just four points from Manchester United.

“Hopefully, we can find a consortium that buys the club and can make Liverpool able to fight financially with Chelsea and United. Then let’s see what we’re capable of doing this season.”

Like Torres the club’s captain, Steven Gerrard, was linked with a move away from Anfield in the transfer window and his retention was thought to be a crucial factor behind his team-mate’s decision to stay.

“Liverpool kept Steven Gerrard, which was fundamental. It’s still a great team. It’s a delicate situation because we’re not in the Champions League but it’s still the biggest club in England and to play at Anfield every week is a privilege,” Torres said.

“That’s how I see it. I like to have targets and to be able to help bring Liverpool back where they deserve to be is a beautiful target. It’s always complicated when you start with a new manager and new players, but we’ll see what we’re capable of.”

Chelsea and Manchester City were both linked with moves for Torres this summer.

“The club received offers and decided to reject them,” said Torres without identifying the clubs in question. “That’s where it ends. Everyone thought I was leaving for Spain during the World Cup when there was nothing in it. I said the day I returned to train that my future was at Liverpool. I have a contract until 2013.

“This year, our target has to be the top four. Like every team-mate, we all want to improve and win titles and, for that, it’s fundamental we get new owners.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/01/liverpool-fernando-torres-new-owners

European football’s governing body has informed its 53 member associations that it has taken the move for reasons related to Europe’s football culture and tradition, saying that the atmosphere at matches would be changed by the sound of the vuvuzela.

The World Cup was characterised by the vuvuzela’s widespread and permanent use in the stands. In the specific context of South Africa, the vuvuzela adds a touch of local flavour and folklore, but UEFA feels that the instrument’s widespread use would not be appropriate in Europe, where a continuous loud background noise would be emphasised.

The magic of football consists of the two-way exchange of emotions between the pitch and the stands, where the public can transmit a full range of feelings to the players. However, UEFA is of the view that the vuvuzelas would completely change the atmosphere, drowning supporter emotions and detracting from the experience of the game.

To avoid the risk of these negative effects in the stadiums where UEFA competitions are played and to protect the culture and tradition of football in Europe – singing, chanting etc. – UEFA has decided with immediate effect that vuvuzelas will not be allowed in the stadiums where UEFA competitions matches are played.

UEFA’s associations have been instructed to take all necessary operational measures, and to instruct their clubs concerned to do the same in all UEFA club competitions in which they participate.

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/footballfirst/matchorganisation/stadiumsecurity/news/newsid=1521821.html

The Spaniard won 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in three tough sets as Gabashvili stayed competitive with solid serving.

Nadal goes on to face Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in round two.

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic and in-form David Nalbandian earlier needed five sets to progress, while seeds Marcos Baghdatis and Ernests Gulbis lost.

Nadal was made to work hard by Gabashvili and was unable to break the world number 98 until the seventh game of the third set, having seen seven break points slip by before then.

But despite not looking completely comfortable on the quick surface, the French Open and Wimbledon champion was too strong in the tie-breaks and eventually came through in two hours and 57 minutes.

“It was a very tough match tonight,” conceded Nadal. “My serve tonight worked well and hopefully I can continue like this. It’s not my best shot but I always try hard to keep improving.

“I know if I want to have chances to win here, this year or any year, I need to serve really well and that’s one thing I am focusing on.”

Djokovic, who also went the distance in his opening match at Wimbledon this summer, beat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-3 to set up a meeting with Philipp Petzschner.

The 23-year-old, who was runner-up at Flushing Meadows in 2007 and a semi-finalist in 2008 and 2009, seemed to be lagging in the heat but dug deep to come through.

“I’ve been in those situations before, played a lot of long matches in very difficult conditions, feeling very exhausted,” he said afterwards.

“You kind of start panicking a little bit when you don’t feel great physically. Then your opponent takes the advantage. And it’s not easy. Definitely those moments are very challenging for an athlete.”

Djokovic started well but after winning the first set he looked increasingly uncomfortable.

Troicki, yet to make it past the third round of a Grand Slam, was able to take command and won the next two sets before breaking early in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.

Djokovic was looking to shorten the rallies to preserve his energy in the strength-sapping conditions, but a poor drop shot followed by a double fault gave Troicki a break point for 4-1.

That was saved with a raking crosscourt forehand winner, however, and the 2008 Australian Open champion battled back to 2-3 before breaking to level the set.

Djokovic suddenly seemed energised and moved to 6-5 before three unforced errors from Troicki sent the match into a decider.

Early breaks were exchanged but it was Troicki who started to look weary and Djokovic was able to break for a 3-1 lead and then power through to wrap up victory in three hours and 40 minutes.

“Give credit to Viktor,” added Djokovic. “He was playing well and serving incredibly well. Even if I would lose today it would have been deserved on his side. A couple of points changed the match and I was just fortunate to get through.”

Former world number eight Baghdatis came into the tournament in resurgent form, but was shocked 6-3 2-6 1-6 6-4 7-5 by France’s Arnaud Clement at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“What can I say? I was really heavy on court, I wasn’t feeling very fit,” admitted Baghdatis, who was a runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open but has never been beyond round two in New York.

“I couldn’t play aggressive. I was really defensive today and Arnaud played a very good first set. I didn’t play very good tennis and he won the match.”

Latvia’s Gulbis, seeded 24th, lost in straight sets to Jeremy Chardy, 28th seed Radek Stepanek lost 6-4 6-2 4-6 6-4 to Julien Benneteau and 30th seed Juan Monaco was sent packing by Canada’s Peter Polansky in straight sets.

But 19th seed Mardy Fish, runner-up to Roger Federer in Cincinnati , recovered from a mid-match wobble to overcome Jan Hajek 6-0 3-6 4-6 6-0 6-1 and 23rd seed Feliciano Lopez beat Santiago Giraldo in straight sets.

Eighth seed Fernando Verdasco avoided a repeat of his first-round exit at Wimbledon to Fabio Fognini, but only just, the Spaniard edging to a 1-6 7-5 6-1 4-6 6-3 victory over the Italian.

And Argentina’s 31st seed David Nalbandian, a former semi-finalist, was a break down in the final set before eventually prevailing 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 against South African Rik de Voest.

“I didn’t play last year because of injury,” said Nalbandian. “I’m just so happy to be here, I just try to be do my best all the time. I feel good so far but first of all I just want to enjoy every match I play.”

James Blake, who is reportedly considering retirement at the end of this tournament, sailed past Kristof Vliegen of Belgium in straight sets.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8958696.stm

It is understood that the delay in confirmation was due to the late arrival of paperwork at the governing body close to yesterday’s transfer window deadline.

Gloucester Place received a deluge of documentation moments before the window officially closed at 6pm, with the Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, revealing yesterday that the club had only open talks for Van der Vaart at 4pm.

Redknapp said: “I thought he was going to Bayern Munich for about £18m and suddenly he became an awful lot cheaper and the chairman came to me and said: ‘Look, he’s available for around about £8m.’

“I felt we’d already got a good squad, it wasn’t a case of really being desperate to get anyone in. It was only when he rung me at about four o’clock and told me there was an opportunity here and did I want to do something?

“I said: ‘I don’t really want to spend your money but if you feel you want to have a go then, well, let’s push on and give it a crack and see if we can pull it off.’”

Van der Vaart becomes Redknapp’s second deadline-beating signing after Spurs earlier sealed a loan deal for the Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/01/rafael-van-der-vaart-tottenham

The France international’s fourth goal of the season set the Blues on the way to victory over Stoke and continued his happy habit of breaking the ice with the first goal in all three matches. His first Chelsea season, during which he went six months without scoring, now seems a long time ago.

The short spell under Guus Hiddink followed by Carlo Ancelotti’s stewardship are when Malouda has generally been thought to have flourished, and 24 goals in that time back it up.

‘I played a lot of games before Guus Hiddink arrived and I was building something,’ he says.

‘Now I get the result of the hard work I did from the first day I signed for Chelsea. Maybe now people get to know me and they notice more of what I do.

‘I am building my confidence, trying to show game after game my quality but you have to stay calm and we shall see at the end of the season. The most important for me was to win the Premier League last year and now that I am champion, I want to stay a champion.’

The 30-year-old had praise after Saturday’s game for the part John Terry played in his goal and also for training ground preparations that went into it.

‘It was a good interception from John and I knew I had to time my run. I knew exactly where he would put the ball and after I knew about the movement of the goalie. That is what we worked on this week and when it happens in the game you have to apply that. We are working every day and every week on those movements.’

The player agreed with his manager’s suggestion that a highly-intensive but important full week of training may have drained the players a little but he still believed they matched Stoke physically.

‘People were talking about all those crazy scores, 6-0 and 6-0, and we know now that when teams come to Stamford Bridge they will try to stay compact and try to close the space and so we have to put high intensity into the game, but that was difficult against Stoke because there were a lot of free-kicks and throw-ins and the game was stopped.

But we had to stay patient, find a solution and that is what we did. We could have scored a few more goals but we tried to be efficient and 2-0, that is okay.’

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2139279,00.html

CHELSEA 2-0 STOKE CITY
31′ 1-0 Malouda
76′ 2-0 Drogba (pen.)

BLACKPOOL 2-2 FULHAM
35′ 0-1 Zamora
71′ 1-1 Pantsil (o.g.)
75′ 2-1 Varney
86′ 2-2 Etuhu

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0-1 WIGAN ATHLEIC
80′ 0-1 Rodallega

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1-1 NEWCASTLE UNITED
43′ 1-0 Ebanks-Blake
62′ 1-1 Carroll

MANCHESTER UNITED 3-0 WEST HAM UNITED
33′ 1-0 Rooney (pen.)
49′ 2-0 Nani
68′ 3-0 Berbatov

BOLTON WANDERERS 2-2 BIRMINGHAM CITY
4′ 0-1 Johnson
50′ 0-2 Gardner
70′ 1-2 Davies (pen.)
80′ 2-2 Blake

LIVERPOOL 1-0 WEST BROMWICH ALBION
65′ 1-0 Torres

SUNDERLAND 1-0 MANCHESTER CITY
94′ 1-0 Bent

ASTON VILLA 1-0 EVERTON
9′ 1-0 Young

The Springboks defeated Australia 44-31 in Pretoria after a poor first half performance and a gutsy but average show after the break against a Wallaby side that squandered too many opportunities to be termed unlucky.

Despite De Villiers’ admittance that there are a number of players who have far exceeded the ideal of 1 600 playing minutes per year, captain John Smit, wing Bryan Habana and the country’s third centurion, Victor Matfield, will most probably play in the Boks’ final 2010 Tri-Nations Test.

“Yes, they are a bit overplayed,” De Villiers said. “All those minutes playing and training get to the legs, so we need to manage them.”

De Villiers made it clear that rest “won’t be forced” on the players -and despite more than 6 300 training minutes in the Super 14 and 1 000 in preparation for Test matches, they will probably run on the field again.

Habana in particular is as far as he could be from the player who became the darling of South African rugby with his speed and try-scoring ability, and on Saturday presented the Wallabies with two tries in addition to other blunders.

His work rate, probably his greatest asset, is down and it would be to his advantage if one of the younger wings such as Lwazi Mvovo, Gerhard van den Heever or Bjorn Basson got a run in his place.

Gio Aplon, of course, after Friday night’s good showing for Western Province, despite their loss, should be the front-runner for the spot after some solid performances in the Bok jersey to date.

John Smit is also not nearly the player he should be, and it would be a courageous and wise move from De Villiers to let Chiliboy Ralepelle start in his place.

He was, after all, quite impressive when he replaced Smit on Saturday. Whether De Villiers and his management team should be led by what the players want, and not what they probably need, is a moot point.

Matfield, for example, on Friday said he just “wanted to play rugby. I’ll play another 10 Tests if needed this year,” he said. But will that be to the team’s long term advantage?

These three senior players, as well as others like Morne Steyn, Gurthro Steenkamp, Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger might get their rest when the Boks tour the UK on a Grand Slam tour including a match against the redoubtable British Barbarians at the end of the year.

Smit, on the South African Rugby Union’s fan forum BOKzine, admitted there is a possibility that he and some of the other senior players would be rested for the tour, but added that it was still to be decided.

http://www.trinationsweb.com/news/viewarticle.asp?id=26811

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, P1
Jenson Button, Retired Lap 16, hit by Vettel
Hamilton drove superbly to control the race from the start, and the only time he ever looked like losing was when the rain came and he slid off the road and into the gravel at Rivage on the 35th lap. He was able to get back out again, however, make a great pit stop for intermediates, and win as he pleased to go back into the lead of the world championship. McLaren should have had a one-two even though Button slightly damaged his front wing on the opening lap, but when he got taken out by Vettel on the 16th lap 18 valuable points were lost. Nevertheless, McLaren have 329 to Red Bull’s 330 following a great comeback after Hungary.

Red Bull
Mark Webber, P2
Sebastian Vettel, P15
Like McLaren, Red Bull had one great story, one disaster. Webber was in immediate trouble when a clutch problem off the line turned pole position into P7, but the Australian fought back to fifth, moved to third after team mate Vettel hit Button, and then got the jump on Kubica in the final pit stops. He might have lost the points lead, but he’s still well in play. Vettel, by contrast, had a terrible afternoon, which included taking out Button, serving a drive-through penalty for that, then colliding with Liuzzi and splitting his own left-rear tyre. He finished a lapped 15th. Red Bull still lead the constructors’ stakes, however, by a point from McLaren.

Renault
Robert Kubica, P3
Vitaly Petrov, P9
Renault returned to very strong form thanks to their F-duct, and were always in the top five throughout practice and qualifying. Kubica had some up and down moments after running second early on, regained that position after Vettel hit Button, then lost it by overshooting his pit slightly on his final spot as he was busily trying to make adjustments on the steering wheel in readiness for the switch from slicks to intermediate tyres. Third was nevertheless a great result that was backed by a strong run from the back of the grid to ninth by Petrov. Seventeen points was a very good haul after a good afternoon’s work.

Ferrari
Felipe Massa, P4
Fernando Alonso, Retired Lap 38, accident
Massa could do no better than fourth, but at least his race was positive. Alonso was savaged by Williams’ Rubens Barrichello in the rain at the end of Lap One, pitted for repairs and a switch to intermediates, then had to stop again for hard-compound slicks three laps later as the track dried sooner than expected. He fought back into the points but then made a mistake taking too much kerb at Les Combes and crashed out on Lap 38. Not a great day for the Scuderia.

Force India
Adrian Sutil, P5
Vitantonio Liuzzi, P10
Sutil drove a superb race and, once Vettel had collided with Button, was always the leading contender for fifth place. Liuzzi damaged his car’s nose hitting Buemi on the first lap, and suffered tyre-killing understeer which prompted an early stop on Lap 10. Then his nose was damaged by Vettel on Lap 25, forcing another stop which likely cost him eighth place. Later he had a great scrap with Alonso, and scored the final point when Alguersuari, 10th on the road, was penalised for cutting the chicane while overtaking the Force India. The 10 points the team thus scored helped pull it clear again of Williams, 57 to 40.

Mercedes GP
Nico Rosberg, P6
Michael Schumacher, P7
Mercedes had a much better race than they had qualifying, with Rosberg and Schumacher fighting difficult cars and conditions to take sixth and seventh places and a much-needed haul of 14 points. The two got a bit close while racing one another, however, Schumacher rubbing Rosberg’s left front wing endplate while taking advantage as the latter suffered a determined passing move by Petrov; later Rosberg returned the compliment, forcing Schumacher to concede at Les Combes.

BMW Sauber
Kamui Kobayashi, P8
Pedro de la Rosa, P11
After their disasters in qualifying, Kobayashi and De la Rosa did their best to score points. The Japanese racer managed it with a strong eighth, helped by BMW Sauber’s usual good strategic thinking. De la Rosa lost out on a higher finish when he slid into the gravel at Rivage late in the race. Like Alonso, his gamble fitting intermediates in the first rain shower early on proved a mistake, which cost him dearly.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P12
Jaime Alguersuari, P13
Alguersuari was delighted to score a point after being in good form all weekend, but he was given a 20-second penalty after the race which dropped him from 10th to 13th, behind team mate Buemi, after stewards adjudged that he had overtaken Liuzzi by cutting the chicane. Buemi was hit in the back by Liuzzi at Les Combes on the opening lap, which damaged his left-rear tyre and prompted him to try and balance the STR05’s errant behaviour by playing with differential and wing settings, to little avail.

Williams
Nico Hulkenberg, P14
Rubens Barrichello, Retired Lap One, collided with Alonso
A bad day for Williams started with Barrichello finishing his 300th Grand Prix appearance by slamming into Alonso at the chicane on the opening lap. Hulkenberg had a throttle problem that lost him time early on, and then a dead engine during a pit stop. Later the lack of proper engine control prompted a few spins in the rain. Not a happy time, especially as Force India took home 10 points.

Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, P16
Jarno Trulli, P19
Kovalainen had a major problem at the start when the anti-stall kicked in, then damaged his front wing in traffic. Trulli lost places avoiding his team mate at the start, then suffered oversteer as his rear tyres went off. After the final safety car intervention was over he had a big spin in traffic, but survived without being hit by anybody.

Virgin
Lucas di Grassi, P17
Timo Glock, P18
Di Grassi had the measure of Glock and kept Kovalainen honest throughout. The Brazilian complained that the Finn passed him by cutting the chicane early on, but the stewards did not take any action. Glock lost time early on when he got pushed off the road.

HRT
Sakon Yamamoto, P20
Bruno Senna, Retired Lap Six, suspension failure
Yamamoto had an uneventful run to last place, but Senna’s ended early when the left-rear suspension of his HRT broke on the sixth lap.

http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2010/8/11192.html

The Swiss world No2 (that still sounds odd)is the first of the leading pack on to court when he plays the Argentinian Brian Dabul in the evening match on Arthur Ashe Court tonight – and he brings to New York the latest refinement to his game: the drop shot.

Murray, ranked and seeded four, says he fell asleep during his first facial the other day, which says something about his demeanour at least. He starts his tournament either tomorrow or Wednesday, in an undemanding engagement against Lukas Lacko, a Slovak doubles specialist with a modest record in singles.

Whether or not the Scot chooses to employ the aggressive strategy that brought him spectacular success in Toronto, where he beat Rafael Nadal and Federer back to back, will probably depend on how desperate he is. His instincts remain stubbornly conservative.

Federer continues at 29 to experiment – most likely because he has been struggling this summer. He won the Cincinnati Masters in a tough three-setter against Mardy Fish last Sunday, his first win in seven months. He is calmness itself, though – as well he might be, with 16 majors in his pocketand the ambition to add at least four before he retires. A feature of his tennis in Ohio was his willingness to mix up his attack, pinning Fish to the back of the court before sliding in delicate chips, wide and short.

Federer’s drive – and his determination to prove his critics wrong following a worryingly long lean spell after beating Murray in the Australian Open in January – makes the Swiss even more dangerous at a place where he has won the title five times already. He is on the other side of the draw from Murray and Nadal.

Quizzed yet again about his dip in form, he responded robustly. “I was No2 in the world at the time, winning one or two slams a year and I was on the downslide. So, you can’t take it too seriously, to be honest. It’s still a good season, depending on how’re you’re feeling, how you’re practising, how you’re evolving as a player.”

And Federer never stops evolving. He has decided, after thinking hard about it, to appoint Paul Annacone as his full-time coach. The drop-shot, clearly, is part of their joint strategy.

“You can use it on the clay,” he said last week, “and maybe on slower hard courts [which these are] but you have to choose it at the right time. And when I choose to play it, I could also hit a proper forehand. Just to mix it up sometimes I use the drop shot. It’s a nice shot. I used to think it was a panic shot because I didn’t know what else to do. Now I use it the right way. I’m happy it’s part of my arsenal now.”

That is all the opposition need: a new and improved Federer.

Murray – without a coach since July, when Miles Maclagan left – is happy with the advice of Alex Corretja, the Barcelona-based clay-court specialist who is in New York but is not a permanent fixture.

“I don’t want to think about who I might work with and what I’m going to do before such a big tournament and obviously quite a big period of the year for me,” he said. “I have to think about what sort of structure I want, how many weeks I want to travel and if I’m going to work with a couple of coaches. If I keep working with Alex or not, I haven’t decided yet.”

Murray has enjoyed the freedom of being more reliant on his own judgment the past month. Soon, though, he will have to make some firm and tough decisions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/aug/30/us-open-andy-murray-roger-federer

Or to put it another way: Do England drop fly-half Flood and revert to Jonny Wilkinson for this weekend’s return to the scene of his World Cup-winning drop goal?

The case for Wilko’s return is built around England’s lack of control at half-back during Saturday’s 27-17 defeat to Australia in Perth.

The tourists’ scrum was so dominant that they became the first team ever to be awarded two penalty tries in a Test match between two major nations.

Yet Flood and scrum-half Danny Care were unable to convert possession into opportunity outside them.

The contrast with opposite numbers Luke Burgess and Quade Cooper, who feasted royally off scraps, was stark.

As a result there are calls for Wilkinson to return for the Sydney Test. A week ago he was seen as the problem, now all of a sudden he’s the solution.

So it is too often with England. They lose and they drop players. They lose again and those same players return.

If Flood was good enough to displace Wilkinson last week then he should be told he still is this week.

Wilko has loomed large over all English outside-halves for a decade. Rightly so, for he has been a world beater. But the flip side of that has been a total lack of confidence in his rivals for the 10 shirt.

This needs to change. And it can by Johnson backing Flood now.

Having decided Wilko was holding back England’s creative play prior to the first Test, the manager should not bring him back at the first opportunity.

I would not have dropped Jonny in the first place. He has been on fire for Toulon all season and was let down by those around him on England duty in the Six Nations.

But England did, they made that call.

So now they need to show a bit of backbone. If they don’t then how will Flood ever feel he has their confidence? How will he grow as a team leader?

By all means change Care for Ben Youngs, who finished the domestic season as the form No.9 in English rugby and should have started last week anyway.

But leave Flood at 10.

England need to know whether he is the real deal ahead of next year’s World Cup. They won’t find out unless he gets a fair run at it.

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/rugby/2010/06/why-jonny-wilkinson-should-sta.html