Safin overcomes Agassi Russia's Marat Safin reached the Australian Open final with a dramatic victory over defending champion Andre Agassi. The Russian showed great skill and athleticism to win 7-6 7-6 5-7 1-6 6-3. Agassi, who is unbeaten in Melbourne since 1999, had points to win the first two sets but fell short in the tie-break both times. But he claimed the next two sets before Safin broke in the fourth game of the decider and clung on for victory. "I don't have the words to describe what I 'm feeling right now," said Safin. "It was a great experience for me, to come back in the fifth set. "I think I played one of my best matches in my whole life, probably. "You have to play really great against Andre to beat him. I just couldn't feel any better." Safin reached the Australian Open final in 2002 but was beaten by Sweden's Thomas Johansson. "Two years ago, I had problems with myself. I couldn't play my best tennis. I was too nervous, too much under pressure. "That's why I couldn't pull my best weapons in that final. But coming right now, I'm full of confidence and it's a completely different story." Marat played at an incredibly high level Andre Agassi Safin's win ended Agassi's amazing 26-match unbeaten run in Melbourne. The American has won the last three Australian Opens he has competed in, missing out only in 2002 while recuperating from wrist surgery. "Marat played at an incredibly high level," Agassi admitted. "I forced him to play at that level the whole time. Sometimes you just need a little luck at the right time. I had chances that went away." The Russian will now face the winner of the second semi-final, between Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer. Safin played only 13 tournaments last season because of a wrist injury and saw his ranking drop below 50 for the first time since 1997.

Villa agree Solano fee Solano's career statistics Aston Villa confirm they have agreed a fee with Newcastle United for Nolberto Solano. Villa had an initial offer of around £1m for the 29-year-old Peruvian international winger rejected. But the club confirmed a new undisclosed offer had met with the approval of the Magpies. Solano has still to agree personal terms and undertake a medical with Villa, but is due at the club on Wednesday for talks. Villa manager David O'Leary has signalled his desire to strengthen what is already one of the smallest squads in the Premiership. O'Leary warning for Ellis But he has been left frustrated at the lack of funds at his disposal. Solano is a popular figure with Magpies fans but has had his share of problems with Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson this season. He moved to St James' Park in August 1998 from Boca Juniors in a £2.5m move and has started over 200 games for the club since then. He was reported to have walked out on the Premiership club after being left out of the squad for the north-east derby against Middlesbrough early this season. Solano and Robson have clashed on previous occasions, with Robson unhappy about him choosing to play for his country ahead of representing Newcastle.

Kakà the key for top dogs AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti praised his side for a "remarkable January" and singled out Brazilian Kakà as the player who has become the new heartbeat of the European champions. Kakà scored his seventh league goal of his debut season in Italy as Milan beat Siena 2-1 on Wednesday to replace AS Roma at the top of Serie A. The 21-year-old Brazil international, who also scored twice in Sunday's 5-0 thrashing of Ancona, was once again in outstanding form with his goal capping a performance full of quality passing, slick touches and intelligent movement. "Kakà is a fundamental player for us. He is so difficult to mark, he moves so much and he can do unexpected things up front and that is important," said Ancelotti. "We have had a remarkable January, we have won every game in league and cup and the whole squad has come into play," added the Milan coach, who as well as moving ahead of Roma in the league beat their rivals twice in Italian Cup ties. Kakà, signed from Sao Paulo in the close season, has quickly settled into Serie A and after being used in various roles has now made the attacking midfielder slot his own. "I played where I prefer tonight and had a good game. I found the space to play in which is important for me," Kakà told reporters. His goal, which broke the deadlock in the 38th minute, was coolly taken with the Brazilian sending Siena keeper Generoso Rossi the wrong way. "I like to have a look where the keeper is before I shoot and it was nice to score like that," he added. Another smiling player was Danish forward Jon Dahl Tomasson who has done well as Filippo Inzaghi's replacement and was encouraged by Ancelotti's promise that the Italian would not automatically walk back into the team. "Tomasson is important, he allows us to play the ball long at times and he did very well with (Andriy) Shevchenko," said Ancelotti. "The choice of attackers will be based on form," he added. Tomasson, who has scored eight goals in 13 appearances in all competitions this season said: "I'm very happy. I'm in good form at the moment but so is all the squad. We've won seven games in a row since Christmas," said the Dane. The former Newcastle and Feyenoord striker spent much of last season on the bench but is increasingly looking a natural partner for Shevchenko. "I've improved a lot in my time here, I have learnt a lot from the coaches and I'm really enjoying my game at the moment," he said. -------------------------------------------------------- consider his 21, costs £8million, is free scoring in champions league (rember spectular goals against brugge n celta)and Seria Inc 3 in last 2 games, and then consider the prices arsenal chelsea and Man u have recently paid for decent, but unspectular players :confused: :confused: .

yeah 4pm kick of i think. I wanna watch mali though see Kanoute in action. and Egypt and Algeria should be a god match

lol yeah well not supprising, the nigerian with the propesnty to be loud, and the italian to less than charitable in the words. but that aside you have to admit, Zizou aside Totti had a great euro 2000 scoring 2 goals and become a fixture for the first time in the Azzuri. France we totally subdued until the dying second and italy lost out through their own faut rather than any brilliance from france.

lol we have already witness some outrages talkes in the frican Nations Cup, am sure there plent more to come. Did anyone sis Titi Camera's Freek Kickyesturday :eek: lol man the goal keeper was stranded.

I disagree . But like peninsula said i guess the forth coming Euro Championships should provide a good spectecle the view the Talent. Mind you i still think the stongest challange that exisit now days lie in the Best league competitions i.e Champions league n Seria but will see, i will be with Italy :cool:

Interesting thoughts thx for sharing them

Interesting thoughts Perhaps my somewhat naive outlook has always been coloured by my ignorance of traditional somali-life born out of my background, which is further re-enforced by the confussed state of somali's after the major civil conflicts of 1990 and the resulting dispersal of our people worldwide. Acting good, as u have expressdly discribed, doesnt sound or should i say never used to sound like a difficult thing to me in practise, let alone in theory. I would hazard it in fact in real life, it is infact a pretty common sense thing that most SOL nomads infact do adhere to. However it seems that when we do get into discussions on issues that dont have a finite value that we can conclude against with a degree of finality, then we (perhaps unsupprisingly against the backdrop of how somali society is/was structured backhome/disapora, and agains the backdrop of the many conflicts gone, and still on-going) end up deviating into many different avenues. The word “Somali” includes everyone who assents to the beliefs and values of Somalis regardless of their clan or region. There is no clan that is superior to one of any of the other clans. Likewise, there is no clan that is deficient or inferior quite. lakiin i would say that is an extremely pragmatic view sadly and not one that you would readly find the majority of somali's regardless of where the hail from readily agreeing with, at least thats my opnion. Although the degree to which some may argue they superiorty might range from being trivial on such things such entertains or personalites to the obvious serious distinctions.

thx for the contribution saxxib. Much obligied for the thoughfull insight u have provided

hey whats up long time man argh fish n chibs fish n chibs :cool: just watch bro, he will come a great potential, perhaps have some good years, but in the end his talent would have been ruined by come to the premiership. just mark my words lol true saxiib roma's squad sadly does house too many hasbeens that due to current omissions of first teame regualrs such as chivu n tommasi are taking there oppotunity to impress the dibous talents once more. Am starting to worry that the strength or rather lake of it, of our sqaud might prove our un-doing. But with our full firs team we are a match for any team as our league position dispite only collecting 4 out of 9pts rceently shows.

Nigeria Stunned by Morroco

wow, am postively fabergasted by the exuberance displayed by arsenal for oonce. No doubt he is a quality younger player who will only make ur team stronger. But it still wont change your overally problem, i.e. your over run with nearly men off club football, and u have too many premadoners. still great move

lol wow, forget the sixth sense, this girl must have work up afew times and thought what the hell is going on :eek: .

That is an interesting observation ijabo. The few practises you have highlighted are good examples of what i always played in my mind as being bigg contradictions, but since the practise is so wide and prevelant amongst somali's i never thought it a bigg deal, until recently. But those aside, our culture although having many (thoertically speaking) beautifull traits when in its ideal form, also has alot of pit falls for those would be wadaads.

How can Totti be overrated, thats teh exact problem he is so underrated and unappreciated outside Italy and the top Coaching Fraternities. lol i dont the words to that song Think Tank bro, just as well huh . But i will try n pick up some nice ones twhen i (inshallah) go to watch my team in olimpico rome soon. Baay my word your good at deciving yourself. Com'on bruv i'll hold my hand up when my team comes second best, but they were in it in all 3 (the last 2 being coppa games which roma fielded weak teams) games, Against the european champions (albeit it boring champions). The 2-1 score should indicate to you the qaulity and closness of each tie. In england on the other hand Arsenal second string team lose to Middlesborough (a dodgy team at any time.) whilst Man u and Lpool are humbled by the atrocious Wolves who play very Brutto Calcio (i hope u understood that Think Tank :cool: ) Roma are lead in my humble opnion , by the best player in the world this year by Miles, Francesco Totti.

A lil background read Nomads i think u will be supprised by pas results ------------------------------------------------------------ African Cup of Nations winners Nigeria celebrate their win in the 1980 final The African Cup of Nations, which is organised every two years, has established itself as the premier competition on the continent. The first edition was staged in 1957 in Khartoum, with only Ethiopia and winners Egypt joining hosts Sudan as the inaugural participants. From 1968 to 1990, eight finalists took part and that was increased to to 12 in 1992 by the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Caf then expanded the number of finalists to 16, in line with its development policy. The 16 finalists consist of 14 qualifying teams, plus the hosts and the defending champions. Year Winner Score Runner-up Host 1957 Egypt 4-0 Ethiopia (Sudan) 1959 Egypt 2-1 Sudan (Egypt) 1962 Ethiopia 4-2 Egypt (Ethiopia) 1963 Ghana 3-0 Sudan (Ghana) 1965 Ghana 3-2 Tunisia (Tunisia) 1968 Congo-Kinshasa 1-0 Ghana (Ethiopia) 1970 Sudan 1-0 Ghana (Sudan) 1972 Congo-Brazzaville 3-2 Mali (Cameroon) 1974 Zaire 2-0 Zambia (Egypt) 1976 Morocco ** (Ethiopia) 1978 Ghana 2-0 Uganda (Ghana) 1980 Nigeria 3-0 Algeria (Nigeria) 1982 Ghana 1-1 (7-6 pens) Libya (Libya) 1984 Cameroon 3-1 Nigeria (Ivory Coast) 1986 Egypt 0-0 (5-4 pens) Cameroon (Egypt) 1988 Cameroon 1-0 Nigeria (Morocco) 1990 Algeria 1-0 Nigeria (Algeria) 1992 Ivory Coast 0-0 (11-10 pens)Ghana (Senegal) 1994 Nigeria 2-1 Zambia (Tunisia) 1996 South Africa 2-0 Tunisia (South Africa) 1998 Egypt 2-0 South Africa (Burkina Faso) 2000 Cameroon 2-2 4-3 pens Nigeria (Ghana/Nigeria) 2002 Cameroon 0-0 3-2 pens Senegal Mali -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Morocco crowned champions after group stage Senegal were unlucky last time. But after 2 great tournaments i think they will not be so hungry. Nigeria have failed to impress for a while now, but with a strong squad to chose from as always and Ja Ja Okocha in great form they will be my team to watch

Thats a traggic story . My heart goes out to his family

Think Tank saxiib i think u need some Hater-Aid (as advertised by doggy style productions all rights reserved ©), coz a long day of hating is thirst work I wont mention the obvious , but rooney his a remarkable player sadly he his already burdned with an english mentality and a dodgy team in a dodgy league. Mind you shows his footballing head is in the right place his hero is Alessandro Del peiro :cool: sorry fish n chibs lads couldnt resist advertising the best

You no what my stance is on this issue, i pretty much quit somali/politics debates because of the exact reason that you have outlined. You would hope that they would be a minimal need for moderation, lakiin we (coz all of us who do still contribute to somali/politics issues) havent lived up to the ideal standards of discourse as outlined in the admin document so what to do? Ban people? because its not always garanteed that people do listne to moderators when the clarify certain rules or regulations, quite often the do quite the opposite of what was advised I think those who do still contribute to the poltics section should adopt a policy of self-moderation first and certainly disipline. If you simple find that u cannot agree, or u find it offends you, then a private messege to the relevant moderator should be you first point of call, rather than a swift inflamatory repost.

lol yeah i woudl caution anyone on adopting the stutdying method i outlined as the last resort. Counciling, man key skills seminars, and even leaching off workaholic students didnt help me. Other potential worthwhile ways of getting work done, with less stress is getting into a good group of students, similar or above level, and share the work load. Thats how most of the successfull students i encounted got by

Many thanks sis

Abayo sorry to rain on the light humor , i did enjoy no: 5 especially, lakiin number 8 is very unappropriate abayo. No harm done, lakiin u might wanna re-think similar type of posts in future before incuding them online.

You no what sis it really is all about crisis manangement, at least thats the skill u indirectly develop when your at higher education and find that you have a few more lazy bones than you thought . The only worthwhile advice i can give u is that manage urself around ur habits. No one knows u better than urself. For example: I knew that i couldnt change my lazy habits so let into my educational life, so , so i didnt bother worrying myself. I knew come exam or course work deadline i would have to do the work

Inter sign Adriano - official Wednesday 21 January, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Italian giants Inter have confirmed that they have signed Brazilian sensation Adriano from Parma. The move has been touted for weeks and the club have confirmed, via their website, that a deal has been reached. The 21-year-old, already half owned by the Nerazzurri, has put pen to paper on a contract that will tie him to the club until 30 June 2008. Inter have also confirmed that they have loaned the Tardini outfit Isah Eliakwu and Ianis Zicu, signed from Dinamo Bucharest this week, as part of the deal. The size of the fee has yet to be officially released but it is believed to be in the region of around £18m. Adriano returns to Inter, after starring for them in 2001/02, following a loan spell at Fiorentina and 18 months with Parma.