The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 38

The Guardian Saturday May 29 1999 5 Sport White week Jim White exposes the world of sport jury-time of the Champions League final to start writing all over again. It is all very well to snigger at the German television commentator who, as Ferguson floats David Beckham shaped to take the fateful corner in the 91st minute, was making purring noises about the unchanging nature of German superiority. But if Teddy Sheringham had not got his foot to the ball, that is pre on air as the red cisely the story you would have been reading in every paper in England, too. I know because I was one of those who had written it. To change everything right on deadline required quick TSJ! rJHrr- Jiift witted improvisa tion ana me man from the Tele graph was perfectly placed.

The para- I graph he had prepared "On ruesday Lothar Motor racing Michael Schumacher is a best-priced 7-4 with Hill's to win Sunday's Spanish grand prix in Barcelona. Schumacher may have dominated in Monaco, but Mika Hakkinen showed his liking for the Barcelona circuit last year. He can get his title defence back on track by winning again at 6-4 with Stanley. Rubens Barrichello looks a big each-way price at 33-1 with Hill's. Racing There is a growing belief that last weekend's Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Saffron Walden will start outright favourite for next Saturday's Derby.

Several shrewd bookmakers reckon the financial muscle of the colt's co-owner Michael Tabor will give Saffron Walden currently 8-1 with Chandler the edge over his market rivals. But the high-stakes rails operator Gary Wiltshire says he will be happy to lay Saffron Walden as he doubts the horse's stamina over a mile-and-a-half. Coral have opened a book on the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July 3 and the French four-year-old Croco Rouge looks way overpriced at 14-1. Wafic Said's colt displayed a blistering change of pace to win last Sunday's Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp. And a strongly-run 10 furlongs is-probably his ideal distance.

Futures market Somebooikiesh betting on the US begins at Pinehurst, North Carolina on June British punters may hot be familiar with the course but they will not be sur- -prised to hear that it has narrow fairways, dense Woods are9ijoint i favourites with Chandler, 18-1 about Ernie Els, 20-1 Davis Love III and Colin MpbineHednd about Nick Price and Lee JWestwbod. The solid US tour regular Jeff Siuman looks interesting at 50-1 with Surrey, as do Loren Roberts and Lee Janzen. And the rejuvenated Corey Pavin looks too big at 80-1 uns doit Remember the Pink 'Un? Depending on where you Hived, it may have been the Green 'Un. Or even, in peculiar circumstances, the Buff 'Un. Nothing to do with the consequence of a dodgy Dallaglio-style liai son in Hong Kong, these were the football papers that used to be on sale back in the MattMus said that the English would never beat the Germans; last night he was proved right" hushing them The middle- down to silence agedfan leapt to make the roar seem even louder at me from the as each player in hospitality turn stepped for- sealing 'NOW What are League trophy for yOUgoingtO thehundreth time.

At one Write aDOUt, point, orches-yOU trated by David before May' tney formed uviui ts a guard of honour kissing me to allow a suited and sheepish Roy Keane and Paul Scholes to pass through and have their turn with the cup. It was this esprit de corps which underpins Alex Ferguson's team, which allowed them to recover from a mediocre performance during the 90 minutes on Wednesday to overcome superior opponents. It is that spirit, constructed round a core of locally born, United-supporting players, which has brought them everything. And it was on evidence later on at the players' celebratory banquet. I know because, after the game, I found myself in the very hotel where the dinner was to be held, and managed to sneak in.

It was a huge affair, with families and friends invited along to cele- brate. There were the Poshes, canoodling 1 cheerily in a corner, there was Jaap Stam, big enough to form his own five-aside team, refuelling at the bar, there was Martin Edwards, still trying to find a buyer. But tellingly, sitting at tables alongside the heroes of the hour, were former United players. Not just the old timers like Bobby Charlton and Pat Crerand, but the recently departed, many of whom had played no more than a bit part in the Ferguson era, such as Ben Thornley, now at Huddersfield, and Tony Coton, the reserve goalie who never even got a first-team outing. To invite them was to acknowledge that all this achievement has been a team thing, that it is the I squad that counts.

I would have stayed longer to see if the club's generosity extended to inviting Ralph Milne, but the attention of security was drawn to the presence of interlopers, largely because the person whom I had gate-crashed decided as souvenirs a few of the popped on each place setting. might have gone unnoticed, but 37 pushing it. couple of circuits of the room time to notice that Alex Ferguson appeared not to require a chair as- his table. He was, it was clear, atop three feet of euphoria. was saved from redundancy by Trust City to prolong party in Manchester Manchester United's unforgettable triumph in Barcelona on Wednesday night gave us an 8-1 winner of the Champions League to go with our 7-1 success in tiie FA Cup.

And punters who followed our advice to buy United at 41 points with Sporting Index on their Treble Chance spread will have made a thumping 59-point profit. We were also in luck with the new Serie A champions Milan, whom we tipped at 8-1 last autumn. Manchester City can prolong celebrations in the North-west by winning Sunday's Second Division play-off final against Gillingham at Wembley. City, who we have already suggested buying at 13 points with Sporting on their divisional index, are available at 5-6 with Coral to win the game in 90 minutes. In Monday's First Division play-off, Bolton are preferred to Watford for a 5-4 win in 90 minutes with Coral.

And Scunthorpe can beat Leyton Orient in today's Third Division climax at 6-4 in 90 minutes with Hill's. Rangers are hard to oppose in today's Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park. The Premier League and League Cup winners can be backed at 11-8 to win in normal time with Coral. The same firm, who are quoting Celtic at 7-4, will give you 15-2 about a 2-1 scoreline in Rangers' favour. Cricket England are 8-11 with Coral and 5-6 with Hill's and Lad-brokes to win today's World Cup Group A match against India at Edgbaston.

The inform bowling duo of Alan Mullally and Darren Gough ought to tilt the balance in the home team's favour. But this is a must-win game for India and after their explosive performance against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, they look marginally better value at even money with Coral. Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are 100-30 apiece with Ladbrokes to be India's top scorers. But this could be the perfect stage for Sachin Tendulkar and he is worth backing at 9-4. Graeme Hick is 5-2 with Ladbrokes to be England's leading batsman.

Graham Thorpe may come in lower down the order but the classy left-hander is in excellent form and he is worth an interest at 3-1. the simple expedient of substituting the word "right" with My own opportunity to improvise, though, was somewhat curtailed by a bizarre assault from a United fan in his mid-30s. I was sitting at the edge of the press box and, after Sheringham scored, he leapt at me from the corporate hospitality seats, sending my laptop flying, then pinned me to the ground, yelling "now what you going to write about, you bastard?" before kissing me. After the game he was gracious enough to seek me out and apologise. "Honestly," he said, in the measured Seventies, outside the ground almost as you left the match on a Saturday afternoon, carrying a report on the very game you had just seen.

It seemed a miracle of printing technology, to get a paper out and distributed so quickly. Until, that is, you started reading it. In order to accommodate the frantic deadlines, reports generally consisted of a dozen paragraphs on the first half, and two lines on the second. Reporters learnt how to wax long and lyrical about the kick-off; 4-3 thrillers that had been goal-less until half-time were written off as boreathons; mighty comebacks were reduced to a list of scorers and goal times. No wonder the tradition died out in the face of competition from the radio.

Why read a half-time summary when you can listen to Stuart Hall camping up the whole 90 minutes? On Wednesday night in Barcelona, it felt like being back in the old days of the Pink 'Un. Whole theses were firmed tone and manner which suggested by day he was probably a chartered accountant, rve never behaved don't know what came over me." He was not the only one to be strangely affected by the night. Down on the pitch, as the poor, mugged Germans lay around in an awful tableau of defeat, the United players could not stop celebrating. All inhibitions dis appeared as they cavorted in front of 50,000 delirious English supporters, up in the press box as correspondents were obliged by what happened in in- sz wider, weirder Aberdeen once for a friendly, which, he discovered on his arrival at Pittodrie, had been cancelled because the visitors had been fog-bound at Manchester airport. That is some devotion, when a fan's record of attendance at games is better than his team's.

Key Sprint Pnme spnnt (time bonus) (cash bonus) PJ of fiie mountains Edinburgh circuit during the 30 miles around the Mound in Edinburgh in the afternoon. A long-distance assault cannot be ruled out from the German Jens Voigt, lying fourth overall, lmin 40secback, but Wauters's biggest worry will be the time bonuses on offer at the single intermediate sprint in the morning and afternoon stages, and at the finish. It will be a tactical day's race, and it promises to go down to the wire. The Giro d'Kalla resumes today aftera brief respite ahead of the last nine stages and Marco Pantani, the defending champion, appears to be well placed to retain his title. The 29-year-old Italian, widely regarded to be the best climber in the race, is only four seconds behind the overall leader, Laurent Jalabert of France, as the toughest Alpine passes loom.

"Pantani looks like a certain winner, but I would not underestimate Jalabert," said Alfredo Martini, a technical director of Italy's national team. fans, or the real thing? The (chocolate) spread of bribery Champagne In among the thousands of fans in Barcelona, I happened across a group whose record of attendance at Manchester United games was astonishing. We met in a spit-and-sawdust bar owned by a workers' co-operative, which, in a touch typical of the city, served only Journalists attending the Champions League final were handed a bag of items when they picked up their tickets, each donated by the core sponsors of the event. It is a low trick and it is called payola. Nutella, for instance, gave everybody "a specially ence to Europe's favourite nutty chocolate spread, particularly delicious on toast.

And let me warn any potential sporting sponsor say Jaguar or Paul Smith if they tried a similar piece of blatant bribery with this column, they would find it equally resolute. Belgian leads round-Britain race as drugs scandal resurfaces in France Pirdbwiir gjes (Sowed to fie wiire Subaru. Triumphant from Bognor Regis to Buenos Aires. like that before, I minted commemorative Presumably the company thought handing over a handsome wrist-watch would ensure its name was in the write-ups. How naive.

As if we could find space to mention the word Nutella, or work into a report on football a refer results show the signs of abuse, although not necessarily of illegal drugs. They could be due to excessive intake of iron. They could be dangerous." Tests on the World Cup leader Belgium's Frank Van-denbroucke after his detention for questioning over possible use of banned drugs showed his red blood-cell level was over the International Cycling Union safety limit and revealed traces of amphetamines, according to French press reports. Vandenbroucke has been suspended by his team until police confirm the reports. Amphetamines were found in the urine of two other cyclists involved in the inquiry, while in one strong traces of an anti-depressant of the Prozac type was found.

Six cyclists were found to have taken corticoids, including the four-times King of the Mountains in the Tour de France, Richard Virenque. with to collect menus One was Still a gave me he sat at floating French riders pulled for tests UIB JIUUB I Hill 2k I XaffijH CM MGtenlude IG are running a Three CardTrick market on the Scottish Cup finaL The player who gets the first card will gBO'blhtslv there will be 30 for the second, 20 for the third, 10: for the fourth and five for thefcCeltiJphari Mjallby has a pretty dismal disciplinary record and he looks worth buying at 10 supremacy at 0.3 points. IUU IWU SUBARU PROVEN THE WORLD OVER CALL 0990 100568 OR VISIT WWW.SUI1ARU.C0.uk champagne. One of their number, called Paul, a freelance housing officer and part-time rock roadie who organises his entire life around fitting in football matches, has not missed a United European match since the mid-Sixties. He had even made it up to Today Stage 7a 92.2 miles Innerleithan Start Edinburgh Yarrow Hill (SJ Carlisle 0 Miles 10 o'Pendle climb.

Falling off is something of a habit for the Wirral rider, who has crashed out of the Tour de France three times in the past four years. "I think the sheep was spooked by a race helicopter; it jumped in front of the rider in front of me and I couldn't avoid him," Boardman said. He was taken to hospital for treatment to cuts after the finish yesterday, and was expected to have stitches for a cut in his wrist. Wauters's erstwhile team leader Leon Van Bon did not start yesterday morning after a crash on Thursday and, in his absence, his domestique, a 30-year-old from the town of Hasselt, is set for the biggest win of an eight-year career spent largely in the service of others. "We had to try to take the lead today, and it worked well, even though we have lost Van Bon," said Wauters.

This morning he will need his wits about him during the 90-mile run through the rolling border hills, while he cannot afford an unlucky crash or puncture 9i Penicuik Ul Cross Langholm Carlisle Cross Yarrow 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 William Fotheringham Half of the 134 professional riders currently active in France are showing symptoms associated with use of the banned hormone erythropoietin (EPO). They will be required 10 undergo tests and will be prevented from racing for several days, the French Cycling Federation said yesterday. The majority are showing kidney abnormalities, high levels of iron and peculiarities in their red blood cells, all of which are consistent with the use of synthetic EPO to increase the red blood-cell count Some may be barred from racing until their bodies are back to normal, which could rule them out of the Tour de France. The chief of the federation's medical commission, Dr Armand Megret, said: "We are wondering about possible manipulations of red blood-cell levels. These William Fotheringham After some 700 miles, this year's round-Britain Prutour is set to be fought out down to the final pedal stroke today.

Yesterday, the race leader's red jersey ended up, by a minuscule margin, in the possession of the Belgian Marc Wauters. The young Luxembourger Benoit Joachim and his United States Postal Service team were caught out on the roads of Lancashire as Wauters, who rides for the Dutch Rabobank team, showed an unexpected turn of speed to take the first intermediate sprint of the day at Ormskirk. This meant that three seconds were deducted from his cumulative time, wiping out his overnight deficit of two seconds, and placing him provisionally in the red jersey. Third place in another sprint put Wauters two seconds ahead of Joachim by the finish on Blackpool's Promenade, where Joachim's team-mate George Hincapie took a consolation stage win. "We just didn't expect him to be so fast," said Hincapie, who was expected to be one of the race favourites after finishing second in both the first stages.

However, like last year's winner Stuart O'Grady, he came to the Prutour after taking a one-month rest from racing, and he is using the race as the start of his build-up to the Tour de France. The stars have known mixed fortunes in this Prutour. Yesterday, the home favourite Chris Boardman," winner of the time-trial stage at Portsmouth on Monday, came off worse in a close encounter with a sheep as he sped downhill at 55mph from the Nick Top two "cars in the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Study. Top two cars in the Rally of Argentina.

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Further afield, our World Rally Team destroyed the competition to finish 1st and 2nd in the Rally of Argentina. Proof positive that Subaru really are proven the world over. 'Willi'" Like the clappers Chris Boardman before his Prutour fall.