The World Cup starts on 9 June 2006, in Munich.The EU Commission intervened in the sales after the British consumer association Which? lodged an official complaint.The European Union also intervened last year when it was revealed tickets ordered over the internet for the Olympics in Athens could only be paid for by Visa cards. When the second phase of ticket sales opened yesterday, fans only needed to pay for a domestic bank transfer in their local currency, the EU said.”Following these changes, football fans will benefit from a fairer choice of payment methods for World Cup tickets,” the EU Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said.In the first tranche of sales, which ended on 15 April, 812,000 tickets went to 208,455 people picked at random by a computer from the 900,000 who had applied. I’m sure the other players would be really happy to have him back, too.”He was a great character, always happy, always busy, always working He was great in midfield, especially for his own defenders. “He had a great season for us and won many points with his work-rate and skill.

The full-back Andy Griffin is also ruled out for the last three games of the season with a knee injury. Substitutes not used: Almunia (gk), Campbell, Aliadi?.Referee: N Barry (Lincolnshire).. The Portsmouth manager, Alain Perrin, believes three of the club’s out-of-contract players, Patrik Berger, Steve Stone and Shaka Hislop are “targets” of other clubs. I want to keep some of them and now we are safe we will talk with them this week.”Portsmouth’s Premiership survival is assured despite a 2-0 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday but Perrin wants a six points from the two remaining games against Bolton at home next Saturday and at West Bromwich Albion the following weekend.The latter could help seal the relegation of their local rivals Southampton, but Portsmouth will almost certainly be without Lomano LuaLua for the rest of the season after he tore a hamstring in the win over Saints last week.Berger, in whom Aston Villa are believed to be interested, may have played his last game for the South Coast club, having damaged an ankle in the same match. Substitutes not used: Kuszczak (gk), Scimeca.Arsenal (4-4-2): Lehmann; Lauren, Tour?Senderos, Cole; Fabregas (Edu, 74), Gilberto SIlva, Vieira, Pires; Van Persie (Bergkamp, 74), Reyes. Jens Lehmann was forced into his first save, a diving stop from Richardson’s 25-yarder, before Albion sent on three strikers for the last 10 minutes.West Bromwich Albion (5-4-1): Hoult; Albrechtsen (Earnshaw, 80), Moore, Gaardsoe, Clement, Robinson; Greening, Wallwork, Richardson, Gera (Kanu, 80); Campbell (Horsfield, 80). Reyes might quickly have secured three points when he skipped past Robinson and keeper Hoult before seeing his shot blocked on the line by Clement.

The Hungarian, almost certain to attract bids if Albion are relegated, challenged for Wallwork’s high centre and, although he did not make contact, Paul Robinson followed up to hit Lauren with a shot.Three successive corners confirmed this as Arsenal’s most testing phase so far, Neil Clement meeting the second – taken by Jonathan Greening – and seeing a header bounce past the post off Gilberto Silva.A vibrant crowd were sensing the possibility of Arsenal’s first domestic defeat for three months, only for the tide to turn in a 66th minute counter-attack.Vieira and Jose Antonio Reyes combined to set up Van Persie to sidestep Clement and score with a powerful, low left-foot shot from 16 yards. Then they emerged from their slumbers to raise the hopes of the watching Southampton, Crystal Palace and Norwich City folk.Patrick Vieira curled a shot a couple of feet too high from 22 yards and Lauren threaded a pass behind the home defence at an angle for Van Persie to bring a fine block from the exposed Albion goalkeeper Russell Hoult.Albion are nothing, though, if not game and Gera teed up Ronnie Wallwork for a shot that cleared the bar from the edge of the area at the end of a goalless first half.Robson was looking to Gera to stretch the men keeping the fit-again Sol Campbell waiting for a recall. Unfortunately, the high tempo their predicament demanded bordered on the frenetic.Gera sent an optimistic, acrobatic volley well wide from beyond the far post before Kieran Richardson, the scorer of a spectacular free-kick against Blackburn Rovers six nights previously, hopelessly overhit another dead ball from a promising position to the right of Arsenal’s area.Buoyed by the confidence of taking a surprise point from Highbury early in Robson’s reign, Albion had much of the play without seriously threatening.Arsenal did not penetrate Albion’s penalty area or muster any kind of goal attempt in that time. Edu added a second in stoppage timeThe fact Arsenal had conceded only one goal in 10 games yet still let in 20 more than Chelsea in the Premiership says as much about their own earlier generosity as it does about the long-term meanness of their success as champions of previous seasons.And Bryan Robson’s selection of the former Highbury man, Kevin Campbell, as a lone striker, with Zoltan Gera well forward on the left, hinted that he was quite content with the prospect of a tight game.Albion nevertheless edged the initial exchanges which, from their point of view, were urgent and determined. Given that the bottom of the Premiership has been more interesting that the top for several weeks now, defeat for West Bromwich Albion carried more significance than victory for Arsenal.
The gap between the deposed champions and Manchester United is back to four points but, in the compelling battle for survival, Southampton can be sure of being involved in the battle going into the season’s penultimate weekend.It was spirited Albion performance albeit a fruitless one after Robin van Persie struck his fourth goal in six games midway through the second half.

Will Antwi should have opened the scoring for the Shots – who finished the campaign in fourth – in the 27th minute, but fired straight at goalkeeper Matt Glennon from six yards.Aldershot spurned another good first-half chance when their leading scorer, Tim Sills, headed into the arms of Glennon shortly before the break.Terry Brown’s side did break the deadlock three minutes after the restart when Crittenden collected the ball on the edge of the box and lashed the ball into the top corner.Darren Barnard could have made it two just after the hour, but Glennon acrobatically tipped his shot around the post.Peter Murphy had Carlisle’s best opportunity with just four minutes remaining, but Aldershot goalkeeper Nikki Bull superbly palmed his close-range effort to safety.. Aldershot will take a slender lead into the second leg of their Nationwide Conference play-off semi-final after Nick Crittenden’s strike secured a 1-0 win against Carlisle yesterday.
The home side created a host of clear-cut chances at The Rec but managed only one goal, leaving Friday’s game at Brunton Park wide open. The club still hosts wandering sides such as the Free Foresters and I Zingari.¿ Althorp, NorthamptonshireIn the grounds where Princess Diana is buried, a number of matches are hosted each year by Earl Spencer.¿ Highclere, HampshireHighclere Castle was built in 1830, and the cricket ground sits in its shadow, surrounded by parkland designed by Capability Brown. Here are a few still in use:¿ Hovingham Hall, YorkshireIn 1858, Hovingham took on an All England team, and cricket has been played here ever since, attracting the likes of Fred Trueman, Geoff Boycott and Len Hutton.¿ Torry Hill, KentLord Kingsdown’s country home is near Maidstone, and the family has hosted matches since 1845. The library was built in the form of a baronial hall inside a flint-clad medieval castle, and contains many exceptional literary treasures.On show is the first edition of Chaucer, printed by Caxton, and Ben Johnson’s annotated copy of Spenser. Also purchased, for an estimated £3.5m, is the first folio of Shakespeare’s plays from Oriel College, Oxford, to accompany his second, third and fourth folios, all of which are in their original bindings.Flintoff will not be able to enjoy these treats while on this visit, but I am pretty sure the selectors of the J P Getty XI could find a place for him in their side should he fancy a game later in the year.Grounds to bowl them overFive of the best cricket venues on private landWormsley, built by Sir Paul Getty, is one of 62 grounds on private land in the UK, most in the shadow of country manors.