Sports

AMMAN — A total of 60 professional and amateur tennis players will take part in the 2nd Jordan Qarashai Tennis Tournament which will be held at Al Orthodoxi Club tennis courts on May 9. The tournament which is the brainchild of Jordanian tennis player Nanci Qarashai creates an opportunity for more interaction among players representing various clubs, diplomatic missions and amateurs. Last year, Iraq’s Hassan Sa’di won the first place and Jordan’s Nabil Morqos settled in the second place.

LONDON –– The most unpredictable Premier League title race for years could still offer up another twist or turn before it is decided on Sunday but in a season of shocks, none would be as monumental as table-topping Liverpool going on to be crowned champions.

Liverpool may be the league leaders with just a home match against Newcastle to play but for once the old cliché that “the table never lies” is wrong, as Manchester City are just a point adrift with two relatively routine home fixtures remaining.

Even though City still need four points to guarantee a second title in three years, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers conceded defeat in the race on Monday after his side blew a three-goal cushion with 11 minutes to play in a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace.

The lead at the top of the table has changed hands 24 times this season and it is likely to do so for the 25th and final time on Wednesday when City meet Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium with the title now firmly in their grasp.

At various times this season, if only for one day in Tottenham Hotspur’s case and two in Manchester United’s, City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have also topped the table, with the top spot occupied by three different teams on some weekends.

Champions United led for two days in the first week but David Moyes’s troubled reign soon unravelled and they dropped out of the race early to spend the season among the also-rans.

Spurs had one day on top in September but fell off the pace and jettisoned coach Andre Villas-Boas. Arsenal had three months in pole position, but flattered to deceive and could not cope with a series of injuries to key players.

Two points behind Liverpool and still mathematically in the title race, Chelsea have dropped 15 points since the end of January, including defeats to Aston Villa, Sunderland and Crystal Palace to leave City firmly in control.

Fatal blows  

City were never completely out of contention but appeared to suffer near-fatal blows when they lost at home to Chelsea at the beginning of February and at Liverpool last month.

However, the Premier League’s biggest spenders always had goals to spare and matches in hand to revive their challenge as soon as their rivals slipped.

While Liverpool are currently top on 81 points ahead of their season finale at Anfield, City also have the added insurance of a far superior goal difference.

If City beat Aston Villa on Wednesday they will only need to take a point from their final game against West Ham United to clinch a fourth English title.

It is almost inconceivable they will self-destruct as Liverpool did on Monday, a capitulation which left talismanic striker Luis Suarez in tears and his teammates slumped on the pitch, staring into the middle distance after the final whistle.

Neither the players, nor most of the 25,000 fans at Selhurst Park could believe what they had witnessed — a kind of mirror image of Liverpool’s famous comeback against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul.

Then they trailed 3-0 at half-time but inspired by skipper Steven Gerrard, scored three goals “in six minutes of madness” as then-Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti famously described it, to level the game at 3-3 before winning the penalty shootout to become European champions for the fifth time.

Soaring eagle 

On Monday, they led Palace 3-0 with 11 minutes to play following goals from Joe Allen, Daniel Sturridge and Suarez.

Selhurst Park is no place for the faint-hearted, though, where the club’s trained eagle mascot flies from one end of the pitch to the other before kick-off.

Palace fans have forged a great reputation as the noisiest, most boisterous and among the most passionate in any of England’s top four divisions, and even when their team was trailing 3-0 they never stopped cheering them on.

Suddenly Palace responded with a deflected strike from Damien Delaney and two more from substitute Dwight Gayle as the shaky Liverpool defence caved in.

Palace have rained on Liverpool’s parade once before, in an FA Cup semifinal in 1990, when after losing twice to the Reds in the league campaign, one of them 9-0, they secured a famous 4-3 win after extra-time with Alan Pardew scoring the winner.

Pardew, now the Newcastle United manager, will lead his team out against Liverpool on Sunday and while the home side are expected to get the upper hand over him this time, it will almost certainly be too little, too late.

LONDON –– Liverpool striker Luis Suarez completed his redemption from outcast to hero when he was named England's Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association (FWA) on Monday.

The prestigious honour completes an award double after he was named the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) player of the year last month.

The 27-year-old Uruguayan finished ahead of teammate Steven Gerrard and Yaya Toure of Manchester City in the poll of England's football writers and the honour follows an astonishing turnaround for Suarez who began this season serving the remainder of a 10-match ban imposed for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic last April.

Although he missed the first five games of the season, the controversial striker, who will play against Gerrard and England in the World Cup in Brazil next month, is the Premier League's top scorer this season with 30 goals with two matches remaining.

His goals have sustained Liverpool's Premier League title challenge — the Anfield Club are behind leaders Manchester City on goal difference with two matches remaining.

Suarez polled 52 per cent of the vote of around 300 members. Last year he polled two votes.

"He did only receive two votes last season," FWA Chairman Andy Dunn told Sky Sports, "although there was a groundswell of support for him last season, but our voting opened just 12 hours after the biting incident at Anfield, so that was taken into account."

The FWA award is not only based on a player's achievements on the pitch, but also on their behaviour and example throughout the season and Dunn continued: "While nobody would say Suarez is whiter than white you have to say his behaviour throughout the season has been very good.

"I think the football writers have taken that into account.

"There is an element of redemption — allied with those 30 goals and the sensational talent he has displayed all season — and it has made him a very popular choice."

Difficult period

Suarez becomes the 10th Liverpool player to win the award and one of their previous winners, Ian Rush, praised Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers for the way he handled a difficult period at the start of the season after Suarez tried to engineer a move in the off-season.

"He was training by himself," Rush told Sky Sports, "but once he apologised, the manager welcomed him back and said you are one of the players now”.

"The manager could have handled it differently, but he didn't and Suarez has repaid him."

Rush, who was Footballer of the Year in 1984, also praised Suarez for his work-rate, saying he had a huge influence on the Liverpool team attempting to win the title for the first time since 1990.

"He has been absolutely incredible with the amount of goals he has got and the assists he has got," said Rush.

"But more importantly than that is the hard work he has put it. I think he has made a big difference to Liverpool's players — not just himself." 

The FWA award is the oldest of its kind in world football and was first awarded in 1948 with Stanley Matthews the first recipient.

BARCELONA –– Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is in upbeat mood ahead of a potentially thrilling finale to the La Liga season with the top three sides remaining in title contention after a weekend of upsets.

With two games remaining, Atletico have 88 points and are still in the driving seat despite a 2-0 defeat at Levante on Sunday, as Real Madrid failed to take advantage and needed a late goal from Cristiano Ronaldo to scramble a 2-2 home draw against Valencia.

Barcelona, who also drew 2-2 against Getafe on Saturday, are second — three points behind while Real lie third on 83 points with a game in hand.

“We have always followed the same balanced line. We have always said that we are playing against two very powerful rivals and it is difficult for them to lose their games,” Simeone told a news conference after Sunday’s defeat.

“On this occasion we have been beaten and now we have in front of us three weeks full of emotion, pure football. The league now is a lot more exciting.”

As well as leading the fight for the championship Atletico have also booked a place in the May 24 Champions League final against Real Madrid.

“We have three fantastic weeks, including the game on the 24th. We are anticipating three finals and we need to concentrate on the first of those which is against Malaga next Sunday,” added Simeone.

Should Real win their final games, a win by their arch-rivals Barcelona over Atletico would hand them the title.

“I am just looking at Madrid and no other teams. We have to do our work and see what happens. We are not going to put our trust in anyone,” Real fullback Marcelo told reporters after the Valencia draw.

“We lost a great opportunity here but at least we got a draw. It is difficult to know what went wrong but this happens in football and now we need to lift our heads up and keep fighting.”

Spain is set for one of their tightest finishes ever after complaints in recent seasons that the championship had become predictable.

The financial muscle of Real and Barcelona has made them increasingly more dominant with the pair having won the La Liga title between them since Valencia were crowned champions in 2004.

However, Atletico have now given new life to the race.

Since the introduction of the three-point win in the 1995-96 season, in only two campaigns have three teams had the chance to be champions going into the final match.

Deportivo La Coruna came out on top in 2000 against Barcelona and Zaragoza while in 2007 Real Madrid beat Barcelona and Sevilla to the title.

LONDON — Manchester United's slump has jeopardised some players' chances of making England's World Cup squad, coach Roy Hodgson has warned.

United won the Premier League by 11 points before Alex Ferguson retired last year, but the players have mounted a feeble title defence under David Moyes, who was fired last month. 

Sunderland inflicted the seventh-place team's 12th loss of the league season on Saturday as the instant feel-good factor following Ryan Giggs' appointment as interim manager evaporated.

Hodgson wants to take players high on confidence to Brazil rather than those who have been underperforming domestically, with the coach highlighting United's miserable campaign.

"They're one of the few teams that have had a lot of English players, but football players have to accept unfortunately their England careers are tied up with their club careers," Hodgson said. 

"If it's not going well in their clubs and it's not going well for them in their clubs, and other players are doing extremely well in their clubs, it does put your position as a national team player under some sort of threat," he added.

"I'm pretty certain that the Man United players will understand that, that there's no God-given right that because they've played in a few games up to now, they'll play all the games in the future."

While Wayne Rooney can be certain of a place at the World Cup if he is fit, the striker's United teammates could face an anxious wait before Hodgson announces his 23-man squad on May 12. 

Among United's England contingent are defenders Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, midfielders Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley, winger Ashley Young, and striker Danny Welbeck.

"It's up to me to pick who the best players for the job are at any given moment," Hodgson said. 

"Now that doesn't mean to say you'll choose a player for the national team every time he scores a goal, but it does mean you are judging over a relatively short period of time."

England opens its World Cup campaign against Italy in Manaus on June 14, following a week-long trip to Miami to play friendlies against Ecuador and Honduras. 

Hodgson has told his players not to complain about boredom while away on World Cup duty.

"I don't think it's our job to keep them occupied," Hodgson said. 

"Once you sign up for [the World Cup], you shouldn't then be saying, 'Oh, I'm missing my family, oh, I'm bored. Or what can you do to help me?' because there's nothing we can do to help you.”

"It's like a soldier saying, 'I'll sign up for the army but I don't want to see any action. I'm a bit bored here sitting around these barracks, every day with nothing to do'," Hodgson added. 

"They must have plenty of boredom in their lives."

LONDON — Victory over Hull City in this month's FA Cup final could set Arsenal up for a long overdue period of success, their Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey has told The Observer.

Arsenal go into the May 17 final as strong favourites to claim their first silverware since their last FA Cup win in 2005, and Ramsey says a victory could be the catalyst for a new period of trophy-gathering for the success-starved North London club.

"It could be massive," he told the Sunday newspaper. 

"In terms of players, hardly anyone has won anything in the dressing room, so that will just give us, hopefully — all being well and we do win the FA Cup — the hunger to realise what it is like to win a trophy and the feeling that you get afterwards, which will drive us on.”

"There are leaders in this team, there are people that are hungry to win and we're still a really young team," he added.

"We showed that with what we achieved up to February when we were top of the league up till then. So we're close. Maybe we just need to win one thing to go on and be successful for five or 10 years."

Arsenal topped the table from September to January apart from one week over Christmas, but their title challenge faded during Ramsey's 21-match injury absence.

By the first week of November, the 23-year-old Wales international had scored 11 goals — as many as he had done in the previous five years.

But while he was sidelined, Arsenal were beaten 5-1 at Liverpool and 6-0 at Chelsea and in a nine-match spell between the beginning of February and the beginning of April they won only two league matches.

They also lost 6-3 at Manchester City just before he was injured, and the Welshman says those defeats proved insurmountable as far as the title challenge was concerned.

"Those were the games that really cost us. You take those three matches away and we've been really solid as a team. So that's what we need to build on next season, stay in the games early on in the first half, when maybe we've been a bit naive."

After Everton's defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, Arsenal are guaranteed a Champions League qualifying place for next season, but their immediate target is success in the Cup final over first-time finalists Hull.

BARCELONA — Barcelona conceded a second goal to Getafe forward Angel Lafita in injury time to stumble to a 2-2 draw at home on Saturday, dealing a major blow to their hopes of defending their Spanish league title.

Lionel Messi volleyed in Dani Alves' pass to open the scoring in the 23rd minute, only for Lafita to level after a rare attack for Getafe in the 37th.

Substitute Cesc Fabregas appeared to have put Barcelona back on track when he initiated a move that ended with Alexis Sanchez scoring in the 67th.

But Barcelona's brittle defence again betrayed them in the final moments when Lafita charged in to head home a cross and grab a draw that silenced the Camp Nou stands.

Already out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey, Barcelona's chances of repeating as Spanish champion are fading fast. The Catalan club were left three points behind Atletico Madrid before the leaders visit Levante on Sunday.

There are two more rounds remaining after this weekend. Real Madrid currently trail Atletico by six points but have one more game to play.

The match was Barcelona's first home game since former coach Tito Vilanova's death last week from throat cancer. 

He was honoured with a commemorative video, an enormous banner with the message "Tito, Always Eternal", and a minute's silence before kickoff.

Barcelona dominated the outclassed Getafe for the first 80 minutes, but their lack of scoring touch cost the hosts dearly.

Lafita converted two of Getafe's three scoring opportunities, while Pedro Rodriguez and Alexis were particularly off target for a Barcelona side that generated a plethora of empty shots.

Barring slipups by both Atletico and Madrid, Barcelona will not win a major title for the first time since the 2007-08 season before former coach Pep Guardiola took over with Vilanova as his assistant. 

Vilanova led the team to the league title last year in his only season as head coach.

Messi caused Getafe problems both before and after his 28th league goal of the campaign when he arrived unmarked in a second wave of attackers to place Dani Alves' low cross into the net with a left-footed volley.

Barcelona pressed for a second goal but there were too many bodies packed into the area for Messi, Pedro and Andres Iniesta to break through.

Lafita capitalised on Pedro's hesitant marking on a free kick to slot in the equaliser, and coach Gerard Martino sent on Fabregas for defender Javier Mascherano in the second half.

The decision paid off with Alexis' goal seconds later, but Barcelona were later left undermanned at the back.

Barcelona goalkeeper Jose Pinto saved Pablo Sarabia's volley with 10 minutes to play, but he could nothing to keep out Lafita's header when he jumped above Adriano to turn in Jaime Gavilan's cross.

Getafe provisionally rose three points above the relegation zone.

DEAD SEA — Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah on Saturday cruised to his eighth Jordan Rally victory and his 53rd Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) win after finishing first place in the 21 hectic Special Stages of Jordan Rally 2014, the third round of MERC. 

Attiyah and co-driver Italian Giovanni Bernacchini clocked 3h00m53.2s, followed by UAE’s Khaled Al Qassimi and co-driver Chris Patterson with 3h02m55.4s, and UAE’s Abdullah Al Qassimi and co-driver Catherine Derousseaux in the third place with 3h15m26.7s.

Bernacchini claimed his 24th win as co-driver, equalling Chris Patterson’s record.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Marouf Abu Samra lost a good chance for a podium finish and settled in the fourth place with 3h16m03.9s after a close battle with Abdullah Al Qassimi.

Kuwait’s Salah Bin Eidan settled in the fifth place with 3h18m19.9s and Jordan’s Husam Salem in the sixth place (Group N) with 3h27m15.2s. 

Attiyah, who headed straight to take part in the 5th round of the World Rally Championship in Argentina, said: “It was a tough but smooth run for us." 

"The first couple of stages included some sections that had been used already and I was a little cautious because of the varying degree of grip, but I got into my rhythm after that," he added. 

"This is another tremendous win for our team. It is developing into a superb season now. I just need to keep the momentum going.”

On the other hand, UAE's Khaled Al Qassimi said: “We made some changes to the car and they worked and we won a couple of special stages. I lost my rhythm a little but we kept fighting till the end.”

Jordan’s veteran driver Abu Samra said "mechanical issues" added more pressure on his car. 

"The challenge was really tough I was behind Abdullah with 37.2s,” he said.

Saturday started with only 19 cars. Khaled Al Qassimi took the lead of SS12 Shuna 1 and Attiyah in the second place but first overall, and Abu Samra sneaked into third, but things soon changed with the Jordanian driver slipping into fourth overall at SS13.

Attiyah took the lead in SS14, SS15 and SS16 with Khaled Al Qassimi following close and Abu Samra fighting for third.

Saturday’s last stages saw Attiyah dominate.

Khaled Al Qassimi surprised Attiyah by winning SS19 Rawda but with a difference of 1m44s, the Qatari champion sailed smoothly to win SS20, SS21 and the rally.

The event was held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal, chairman of Jordan Motorsport. 

The rally missed the participation of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who fell ill and had to be hospitalised on Thursday. 

Khaled Zakaria, Jordan Rally director, expressed his satisfaction with the event. 

"... The changes we made paid off especially when we split the stages into two loops of five stages. I thank everyone who worked on this rally especially the volunteers who we see as the backbone of each event.” 

A moment of silence was observed on Thursday in memory of the Qatari driver Misfer Al Marri, the 2010 regional rally champion and a frequent participant in Jordan rallies who passed away this year. 

AMMAN –– Wihdat have a chance to consolidate their lead atop the standings when they play 11th-placed Arabi as Week 18 of the Jordan Professional League kicks off on Thursday.

Despite drawing 0-0 with Baqaa last week, Wihdat are still in the lead, thanks to other similar results like Faisali's 1-1 draw with Ramtha. Faisali trail four points behind and next play holders Shabab Urdun, who drew 1-1 with Arabi.

Baqaa remained third last week and next play Hussein Irbid, who climbed two spots after a 5-0 drubbing of Sheikh Hussein. The latter has officially been relegated and next play That Ras, who are now fifth after a 0-0 draw with Sarih.

That Ras have lost their third spot and next play Shabab Urdun in a postponed match. The Jordan Cup holders were busy on the Asian scene moving to Round 16 of the Asian Football Confederation Cup after finishing second in Group A, while Shabab Urdun bowed out of the first round after finishing third in Group D.

Jazira beat Manshieh last week to go up two spots to fourth ahead of their match against Ramtha, who dropped to sixth. 

Other matches will see Sarih play Manshieh, who lost 1- 0 to Jazira, and Sheikh Hussein against That Ras.

Ramtha's Hamza Dardour took over the top scorer list with nine goals, followed by Baqaa's Adnan Suleiman with eight, and Manshieh striker Mohammad Abdul Halim and Shabab Urdun's Issa Sabbah with seven goals.

MUNICH –– Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola still believes in possession-based football and cannot alter his feelings about the way the game should be played, he said after the Champions League holders were hammered by Real Madrid on Tuesday.

The former Barcelona boss was forced to defend his philosophy, already under fire in Germany, after his side were outclassed in their semifinal, second leg, losing 4-0 on the night and 5-0 on aggregate.

“I know it’s a tough night for us, for me and for the players,” he told reporters, adding that Bayern lost because they had too little possession, not too much.

“The reason we did so badly in the first half is that we did not have possession. We didn’t play with the ball.

“Against Arsenal and against Manchester United [earlier in the competition] and in the first leg in Madrid, we played with the ball and we controlled the game.

“We did not do it in the first half and when you don’t have control against a great, great team like this, you don’t have a chance.”

“The argument about my ideas is not valid,” he added. “I can’t change what I feel and what I feel is that we must play with the ball and attack as much as possible.”