Barca’s Messi says win in Rome will certify his team as the world’s best

May 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Manchester United's left-back Patrice Evra, who insists he will go into the Champions League final as the best left-back in the world, has told Barcelona's golden boy, Lionel Messi, to not mess with him. The Manchester United player has the most daunting job of all in the Champions League final next Wednesday.

May 21st, 2009 LONDON - Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs is looking forward to the Champions League final against Barcelona FC to be played in Rome at the end of the month, and labeled it a "dream final". Giggs believes next Wednesday's match in Rome is the one most neutrals wanted and will decide who is genuinely the best team in Europe because it pits together the champions of the two strongest leagues in Europe.

May 20th, 2009 LONDON - Barcelona's Argentine football star Lionel Messi has had a dig at Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the Champions League final, saying: It's not about you and me. Messi, 21, said: "Nobody plays to be the best player in the world.

May 18th, 2009 LONDON - Manchester United manager is of the view that Real Madrid's trouncing by Barcelona in La Liga convinced striker Cristiano Ronaldo to stay on at Old Trafford. Barca stuffed Real 6-2 a couple of weeks ago at the Bernabeu and Ronaldo had the mickey taken out of him by his Manchester United teammates.

May 6th, 2009 LONDON - Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has warned Barcelona that they will be blown away in the Champions League semi-final. The Chelsea striker taunted the Catalan giants by insisting the Blues have more match winners in their team.

May 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Chelsea's Frank Lampard has hailed Barcelona's Lionel Messi as the best player on the planet. According to The Sun, the England star believes Messi will be the biggest threat to the Blues' hopes of clinching a place in the Champions League final.

May 2nd, 2009 Russia beats US 4-1 at ice hockey worldsBERN, Switzerland — Russia scored three power-play goals to beat the United States 4-1 in a second-round match at the ice hockey world championship on Saturday. The U.S. took an early 1-0 lead, but took too many penalties as Russia rallied to make it 3-1 at the end of the first period.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - Barcelona is capable of destroying Chelsea, former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry insists. According to the Daily Star, Henry will be joined by Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi in Barca's Holy Trinity against Chelsea tonight and are huge favourites to beat the Premier League side.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi knows he can only be officially crowned as the best player on the planet if they beat Chelsea. The Argie idol, 21, is desperate to win the Champions League and finally claim the title many in Barcelona believe is rightfully his - the FIFA World Player award, reports The Sun.

April 27th, 2009 China expected to dominate at table tennis worldsYOKOHAMA, Japan — With Olympic singles champions Ma Lin and Zhang Yining headlining a powerful world championship team, China is expected to maintain its dominance in table tennis that it highlighting last August in Beijing. China won all the gold medals on offer in the table tennis event at the Beijing Olympics, and swept all the medals in the men's and women's singles behind Ma and Zhang.

April 25th, 2009 DUBAI - Australia are still the world's best one-day team in the view of Pakistan captain Younis Khan, despite official rankings and recent form suggesting otherwise. "They're still the best team in the world.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - Soccer ace David Beckham has topped the list of football high-earners. According to French football website France Football, the 33-year-old England midfielder topped the high earners with the total income of 32.4 million euros, reports The Mirror.

March 21st, 2009 LONDON - England coach Fabio Capello has asked Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal to beware of Barcelona and Lionel Messi during the Champions League quarter-final. Capello feels Barcelona is the team to avoid with Messi in the ranks.

March 21st, 2009 LONDON - England coach Fabio Capello has asked Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal to beware of Barcelona and Lionel Messi during the Champions League quarter-final. Capello feels Barcelona is the team to avoid with Messi in the ranks.

March 14th, 2009 LONDON - Former French football captain Zinedine Zidane has called England's Steven Gerrard the best player in the world and the 'heartbeat' of the Liverpool team. "Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo but yes, I think he just might be.