BENAYOUN MAY BECOME CHELSEA'S NEW TARGET

 

Chelsea are considering making a move for Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun, with the Israeli international touted as a possible replacement for the out of contract Joe Cole. Cole is apparently no nearer to resolving his contract dispute with owner Roman Abramovich, and the feelers are already out to find a suitable replacement, though Benayoun could even be recruited if Cole stays. There are ample suitors for Cole, but he would like to stay at Stamford Bridge if he can come to an agreement over new terms.

 

However, a list of possible replacements has been put to manager Carlo Ancelotti and the Israeli is highly thought of by the Italian coach, who has now a much clearer picture of the players in the Premier League after his first season in charge of the club. He is also clearer about what is needed to improve the team that won the Double, but fell short in the Champions League.

BOATENG APOLOGISED TO BALLACK

 

Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng has apologised to Michael Ballack for the challenge which ruled the Germany captain out of the World Cup.

 

Boateng, who will represent Ghana - an opponent of Germany in the group stage - at the World Cup this summer, told Germany's Sport Bild magazine that he had already offered his apologies several times to Ballack.

 

"All I can do is apologise," said Boateng, who is the half-brother of Germany international Jerome Boateng.

 

"I was just too late and I hit him straight on"

 

"It looked stupid. I apologised to him twice on the field and now for a third time.

 

"I am sorry. It was not intentional."

 

Ballack is still letting the realisation sink in that he is going to miss the World Cup due to the ankle injury he picked up from the tackle.

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BALLACK OUT OF WORLD CUP

 

Germany captain Michal Ballack has been ruled out of the World Cup after injuring his ankle in Chelsea's FA Cup final win over Portsmouth. The German Football Federation (DFB) said Ballack underwent a scan on Monday which showed that he had partially torn a ligament in his right leg. The DFB said it would be eight weeks before he could resume training. The World Cup starts in South Africa on June 11.

 

Ballack limped off with during the first-half of Chelsea's 1-0 win over Portsmouth on Saturday after a late tackle by Kevin-Prince Boateng. Boateng was born in Berlin and represented Germany at U21 level, but has switched allegiance and will play at the World Cup for Ghana, who are in the same group as Germany.

 

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CHELSEA READY TO GET TORRES

 

Fernando Torres will be the subject of a world record bid from Chelsea within days. The total package of transfer fee and salary will make Torres a staggering £130 million investment. And Soccernet has been informed that owner Roman Abramovich is personally taking control of the project to bring the Liverpool striker to Chelsea.

 

Torres has been linked with Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid for a some time but the Blues will be first to make a concrete offer. Abramovich is ready to release the cash following a Premier League and FA Cup double this season, but he is also acutely aware he could cut an alternative deal with Liverpool in need of new players.

 

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CHELSEA WIN FA CUP

 

Didier Drogba won the double for Chelsea with the only goal in a quite remarkable FA Cup final. Drogba's 37th goal of the season was a free-kick just before the hour that found the net with tracer-bullet precision from 20 yards.

 

It maintained Drogba's impressive record of scoring in all six competitive games he has played at the new Wembley and confirmed Chelsea as only the seventh club to complete the league and FA Cup double, a pretty significant achievement in Carlo Ancelotti's first season in charge.

 

But that does not even come close to telling the story of a game that saw Chelsea hit the woodwork five times before the interval, including a terrible miss from Salomon Kalou, Kevin-Prince Boateng fail to convert a penalty shortly before Drogba's winner that could have set up a fairytale finish to a shambolic season of turmoil at Portsmouth, and even Frank Lampard fire wide from the spot three minutes from time.

 

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CARRAGHER & COLE IN ENGLAND SQUAD

 

Jamie Carragher and Joe Cole have been included in Fabio Capello's provisional 30-man squad for this summer's World Cup in South Africa. It will be reduced to 23 players by June 1.

 

Liverpool stalwart Carragher, who announced his retirement in 2007, returns to provide cover in defence with Gary Neville overlooked entirely. Chelsea midfielder Cole has been plagued by injury for large parts of this season but his goal against Manchester United helped convince Capello he is worth another look.

 

Provisional Squad:

David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham United), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Michael Dawson (Tottenham Hotspur), Leighton Baines (Everton), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), James Milner (Aston Villa), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Scott Parker (West Ham United), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Darren Bent (Sunderland), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur).

 

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QUEROZ NAMES PORTUGAL PROVISIONAL SQUAD

 

Pepe has been included in Portugal's provisional 24-man squad ahead of the World Cup, despite having been sidelined by a knee injury since December. The Real Madrid defender was a stand-out in a scrappy Portuguese qualifying campaign to ensure his place.

 

Coach Carlos Queiroz had previously indicated he had "one or two'' doubts about the fitness of certain players. Portugal reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Germany four years ago, but face a difficult task to get out of their group in South Africa after being draw against Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea.

 

Provisional Squad:
Beto (Porto), Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis), Eduardo (Braga), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Ze Castro (Deportivo La Coruna), Bruno Alves (Porto), Rolando (Porto), Ricardo Costa (Lille), Duda (Malaga), Pepe (Real Madrid), Miguel (Valencia), Tiago (Atletico Madrid), Deco (Chelsea), Raul Meireles (Porto), Nani (Manchester United), Miguel Veloso (Sporting Lisbon), Pedro Mendes (Sporting Lisbon), Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Liedson (Sporting Lisbon), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Danny (Zenit St Petersburg).

 

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CHELSEA WINS PREMIER LEAGUE

 

Carlo Ancelotti's unstoppable Blues crushed the Red opposition as they romped to the title yesterday. And after hoisting the Premier League trophy aloft, Chelsea skipper John Terry expressed the three years of pain for seeing Manchester United lift it.

 

Chelsea blew their opponents away as they stuck eight past Wigan at a delirious Stamford Bridge. Didier Drogba notched a hat-trick - taking him to 29 League goals and the Golden Boot. And it was a net gain all round for the Blues as they finished the season with 103 Prem goals. Nicolas Anelka (2), Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou and Ashley Cole also struck yesterday.

 

United, who beat Stoke 4-0, finished a point behind Chelsea. And Terry means to make sure Alex Ferguson's side stay second best for years to come. The England centre back also paid tribute to boss Ancelotti who matched Jose Mourinho's feat by becoming the second foreign coach to win the League at the first attempt.

 

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ESSIEN IN GHANA'S SQUAD

Injury doubt Michael Essien has been named in Ghana's preliminary 30-man World Cup squad by coach Milovan Rajevac despite uncertainty as to whether the Chelsea midfielder will be fit to feature in South Africa. Essien has not featured for Chelsea this year after suffering a knee injury while on duty with Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola in January. Ghana went on to reach the final in that tournament, but their hopes at the World Cup hinge on the rehabilitation of one of their only world-class players.

 

Ghana provisional squad:
Richard Kingson, Daniel Agyei, Stephen Ahorlu, Stephen Adams, Samuel Inkoom, Eric Addo, Jonathan Mensah, Lee Addy, Rahim Ayew, Hans Sarpei, John Mensah, Isaac Vorsah, John Paintsil, Sulley Muntari, Derek Boateng, Anthony Annan, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Kwadwo Asamoah, Andre Ayew, Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah, Haminu Dramani, Quincy Owusu Abeyie, Bernard Kumordzie, Laryea Kingston, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Matthew Amoah, Asamoah Gyan, Prince Tagoe, Dominic Adiyiah.
 

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STOKE 1 - CHELSEA 2

Carlo Ancelotti saw his Chelsea side stretch their 100% record to five matches at the Britannia Stadium as a stoppage-time goal from Florent Malouda secured a 2-1 victory.

 

Florent Malouda scored an injury-time winner as Chelsea battled back from a goal down to beat Stoke 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.

 

The France international broke Stoke hearts after Didier Drogba's goal in first-half injury-time had cancelled out Abdoulaye Faye's opener for the hosts.

 

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