10 Highest Paid Soccer Players (2011)

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Country: Portugal
Club Team: Real Madrid
Age: 25
Salary: $17.06 million  

                            Cristiano Ronaldo

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2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Country: Sweden
Club Team: AC Milan
Age: 29
Salary: $15.7 million  

                                           Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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3. Lionel Messi
Country: Argentina
Club Team: AC Milan
Age: 22
Salary: $13.74 million  

                                                  Lionel Messi

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4. Samuel Eto’o
Country: Cameroon
Club Team: Inter Milan
Age: 29
Salary: $13.74 million  

                                                 Samuel Eto’o

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5. Kaka
Country: Bzazil
Club Team: Real Madrid
Age: 27
Salary: $13.13 million  

                                                  Kaka

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6. Karim Benzema
Country: France
Club Team: Real Madrid
Age: 22
Salary: $11.17 million  

                                                Karim Benzema

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7. Carlos Tevez
Country: Argentina
Club Team: Manchester City
Age: 26
Salary: $10.57 million  

                                         Carlos Tevez

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8. John Terry
Country: England
Club Team: Chelsea
Age: 29
Salary: $9.81 million  

                                               John Terry

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9. Frank Lampard
Country: England
Club Team: Chelsea
Age: 31
Salary: $9.81 million  

                                            Frank Lampard

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10. Thierry Henry
Country: France
Club Team: Barcelona
Age: 32
Salary: $9.81 million  

                                      Thierry Henry

Swede success, Ghana romp

Sweden began their friendly tournament campaign in Cyprus with a 2-0 win against the host nation. First-half goals from Tobias Hysen and Markus Berg were enough to give Erik Hamren's side a routine victory. The tournament's other fixture saw Ukraine beat Romania 4-2 in a penalty shootout, after the game had ended 2-2. Ukraine had taken a 2-0 lead through Yaroslav Rakitskiy and Artem Milevskiy but they were pegged back by a double from Dan Alexa.

In action involving African teams, Didier Ya Konan scored the only goal to help Ivory Coast sink Mali 1-0 in Valence. The decisive strike came after three minutes at the French venue, which was marred by some heated exchanges between the players late on following several bad tackles.

The match also saw Didier Drogba play his first international since last year's World Cup finals in South Africa - the Chelsea striker marking his return by laying the ball on for fellow forward Gervinho, whose cross was met by Hannover midfielder Ya Konan. Mali missed a second-half penalty before the game was stopped twice, first after a fight broke out between the players and then for a floodlight failure. Elsewhere, Ghana's new coach Goran Stevanovic began his reign in style after watching his side thrash Togo 4-1 in Antwerp.

The continent's top side took the lead after just 10 minutes thanks to Dominic Adiyiah.

And further strikes from Jonathan Mensah (60), an own goal from captain Serge Akakpo (69) and a late effort by Samuel Inkoom (83) saw the Black Stars run out easy victors.

In Tuesday's other friendly clash Peru recorded a 1-0 victory over Panama as Orlando Contreras got the only goal.

Arsenel Exit ,

Bendtner, 23, is only just returning to full fitness and sharpness after injury problems this season. But the Danish international, who will face England in Copenhagen on Wednesday, feels he needs regular football to achieve his lofty goals.

Bendtner said: "I have a lot of feelings for Arsenal and it means something great to me. I would be sad to leave it, but you have to think about yourself and, with the career goals I have, I cannot be sitting on the bench.

"That's the way it is. I will do my best for Arsenal throughout the season. Hopefully, I will be there next season as well, but we have to wait and see. But, if my situation at Arsenal doesn't change, I will have to look at it because I want to play football.

"There is no doubt about that. If I cannot play at Arsenal, then I do not want to sit on the bench - but every player thinks like that. I am at a stage of my career now where I think I should play every game and I should develop and score goals.''

Bendtner will face his Arsenal team-mate Jack Wilshere in Copenhagen with the 19-year-old making his full debut. But he hopes the lesson of another Gunners player in Theo Walcott, who was taken to the 2006 World Cup as a 17-year-old, will be learnt by England in handling Wilshere.

He said: "Jack is developing all the time. He is still young and he will keep developing and getting better for five or six years still. Young players are always put under a lot of pressure very early in England. You always throw players around really quickly. Jack has got potential, he is a grounded lad and he can be a great, great player for England.

"I have my own theories on how Theo Walcott was treated by England, but I don't want to get too much into that because it will probably just get me in trouble.

"But Theo can be a lesson for the way you treat Jack. It's important to take it easy and realise he is a kid. He's still young even though he seems very mature and seems like he has played a long time.''

ICC chief Haroon Lorgat at an event, before the World Cup

 Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, has said that he is confident about having a corruption-free World Cup, especially after the anti-corruption tribunal's verdict that banned three Pakistan players on charges of spot-fixing.

"I am confident for two reasons," Lorgat told the National. "The main one is that the vast majority of players are honest players. They do play the game in the spirit that it should be played. They are not seeking to make gains out of untoward means.

"Secondly, we are alive to what could come to the fore in terms of corruption. We have measures in place, and people forget we had been tracking this long before the News of the World had broken the story.

Lorgat said the ICC was having discussions at appropriate levels about whether gambling could be legalised on the sub-continent, where cricket has long been under the spectre of illegal bookies and betting. "I agree with the notion that if it is regulated, it is a lot better than if it is not regulated. We have made inquiries, and these are the things we are working towards."

Since the spot-fixing scandal broke last year, Lorgat said that the ICC had increased its anti-corruption staff, and were now "more vigilant around leads we pick up."

Lorgat has said that the punishments handed out were severe enough, and felt that it would deter players in future. "I think it would take someone very brave not to take heed of what has happened.

"In legal terms, you have to be proportionate when you mete out punishment. We must distinguish between match-fixing and spot-fixing. This is a very experienced group of judges. They have enormous experience and expertise, and they are independent. They have applied their minds and decided on what is a proportionate sanction."

S Sreesanth as a replacement for injured pacer Praveen Kumar

The BCCI on Tuesday named S Sreesanth as a replacement for injured pacer Praveen Kumar in India’s 15-member World Cup squad after the latter was ruled out due to an elbow injury.Praveen has been fighting an elbow injury, which had also kept him out of the recent ODI series against South Africa.

Sources earlier told CNN-IBN that Sreesanth and R Vinay Kumar were the two names making rounds as replacement for Praveen and the Indian think-tank – which includes coach Gary Kirsten and captain MS Dhoni – preferred Vinay over Sreesanth in the squad.

“God has been kind to me, so I am playing the World Cup. I feel bad for Praveen, hope he recovers fast. I have been working on my game a lot and its been a learning experience, and am looking forward to the World Cup now,” Sreesanth told CNN-IBN.

“I was worried about my economy rate, but I think I am in control of it. Our fast bowling department is confident of the challenge. Our team is a perfect mix of talent and experience this time,” he added.

The pacer said that he was “very much misunderstood but I am in control of my emotions.”

I was looking forward to cheer for the team, but now I am excited I will be playing. Cricket comes first any day, it’s my priority always.”

Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, underwent a fitness test early on Monday morning at the National Cricket Academy, immediately after returning from England, where he had dashed last week to consult experts on his injured right elbow. Though there was no official word yet from the BCCI on Praveen, sources monitoring the developments have indicated that the fast bowler' dreams of playing his maiden World Cup were virtually over because the injury had not healed as fast as was expected.

Praveen had picked up the injury at the outset of the ODI series last month in South Africa and was sent back immediately as a precautionary measure to recuperate at the NCA. But the recovery did not go as planned and Praveen was rushed to meet Dr Andrew Wallace, a London-based surgeon, who has treated many Indian players including Sachin Tendulkar. The BCCI officials were tight-lipped about the development, but it is understood that the board wanted to first approach the tournament's technical committee to report on Praveen's injury and get the approval for his replacement.

Messi hat-trick puts Barca 10 points clear

Lionel Messi’s brilliant hat-trick fired Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday that set a record for consecutive La Liga victories of 16 and stretched their lead over Real Madrid at the top to 10 points.

The Argentine World Player of the Year struck twice in 12 first-half minutes and again in the 79th to move two goals clear of Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the La Liga scoring charts with 24 goals.

The victory lifted the champions to 61 points from 22 matches and beat the previous best for straight league wins set by Alfredo Di Stefano’s Real in the 1960-61 season.

Real, who suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Osasuna last weekend, can trim the gap back to seven with a win over promoted Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu on Sunday (1800).

Villarreal earlier squandered a chance to close within three points of Real and lost their unbeaten home record when they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against promoted Levante.

The loss, their first in 12 home games this season, leaves them on 45 points, six behind Real and four ahead of fourth-placed Valencia, who host promoted Hercules in Sunday’s late kickoff (2000 GMT).

Athletic Bilbao boosted their chances of a place in Europe when goals from David Lopez, Gaizka Toquero and Fernando Llorente gave them a 3-0 home win over 10-man Sporting Gijon.

The victory lifted the Basque club to fifth place on 38 points, a point above Espanyol who were three goals down by the 18th minute at Almeria and eventually lost 3-2.

MESSI MAGIC

Atletico were looking for a morale-boosting result at the Nou Camp that would keep their hopes of European qualification alive but any prospects of derailing the Barca express were effectively snuffed out by two moments of Messi magic.

His first goal in the 17th minute was a trademark dash in from the right wing and he left several opponents trailing before arrowing a low shot past David De Gea.

Spain striker David Villa slipped the ball through for Messi to score his second in the 29th. Atletico captain Antonio Lopez got a foot to the ball but Messi burst clear and clipped a shot in off the right-hand post from close range.

The 23-year-old had a powerful header acrobatically saved by De Gea before he beat Diego Godin to a loose ball and prodded it over the line to complete a memorable treble.

“I am happy with the win against a tough team who are not going through the best time and that could have made things hard for us,” Messi told Spanish television.

“I am not thinking about being league top scorer at all,” he added. “The important thing is that we continue this winning run as we have Real Madrid just behind us and we know they will fight to the end.”

Atletico are seventh on 30 points, seven behind Espanyol and eight adrift of Bilbao.

In other games on Saturday, Getafe thumped visiting Deportivo Coruna 4-1 and Real Mallorca were held to a 1-1 draw at Osasuna as Japanese midfielder Akihiro Ienaga made his debut for the Balearic Islands club.

Real Zaragoza and visitors Racing Santander played out a 1-1 stalemate.

I hope Amir comes back strongly: Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram admitted that the lengthy bans handed out to Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir for corruption on Saturday represented a new low for the besieged sport in the country.

“I feel sad for all three of these kids, two just over 20 and one just 18,” Wasim told AFP.

“I feel for their families because they are key players. This is a low for Pakistan cricket.”

The International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption tribunal on Saturday banned Butt for 10 years (five suspended), Asif for seven years (two suspended) and teenager Amir for five.

The bans were handed after an investigation into allegations made by the News of the World that the players deliberately bowled no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England in August.

Wasim said he hopes the punishments will serve as a lesson.

“Not only for cricketers in Pakistan, but also for the players of the world, this should be a lesson, and I sincerely hope that the ICC has set an example with this verdict and this will serve as a clean-up, not only in Pakistan cricket, but in world cricket,” said Wasim.

Wasim said Amir is a special talent.

“I was very happy to see Amir’s progress, but with this punishment his career will suffer. I hope he comes back strongly,” said Wasim, of the teenage left-arm paceman who has been compared to him.

Former Pakistan spinner Iqbal Qasim termed the decision as “upsetting”.

“All three players were the future of Pakistan cricket, so it’s a very upsetting day,” said former spinner Iqbal, who is also the head of the National Bank team for which all three players featured in domestic matches.

“All three had promising careers but it’s sad that they fell into a trap and couldn’t recover.

They could have earned more through playing international cricket,” said Qasim, also a former chief selector.

Qasim said the decision must serve as reminder for other cricketers as well as for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“I hope these punishments will help future cricketers be more responsible.

I think it should also serve as a jolt for the PCB who should have curbed this before it happened,” said Qasim.

Former captain Rashid Latif said the loss of the three players will be temporary.

“To gain an honest system, and have unquestionable integrity, you have to lose something and players come and go – this will be a momentary loss for Pakistan cricket,” said Latif, who blew the match-fixing whistle against fellow players in 1994.

Former paceman Sarfraz Nawaz termed the decision as “pre-judged”.

“The ICC had decided to give punishments to the players because there was too much pressure on them to curb fixing,” Nawaz told AFP.

“It’s an important day for world cricket and very sad for Pakistan.”

Nawaz said Amir and Asif will be sorely missed in next month’s World Cup.

“Amir and Asif are a huge loss,” said Nawaz, of the new-ball pairing.

“They are the world’s best opening bowlers and will be missed, while Butt has matured into a solid opener.”

Fans in the street had a mixed reaction, some calling the decision a “conspiracy” against the Pakistan team.

“The ICC is biased,” said student Mohib Alint.

“They banned three key players so that Pakistan could not win the World Cup.”

But other fans blamed the players.

“All three have spoiled Pakistan’s cricket image. We cannot play cricket at home because teams do not travel to Pakistan because of security fears and now because of spot-fixing, teams will refuse to play us anywhere,” said banker Shabbir Hussian.