Pegah players posing for a group photo.

File photo shows Sepahan players posingfor a group photo.

Head Coach of Gilan’s Pegah Nader Dastneshan on Monday said that the sluggishness of Sepahan can help his team win.
Sepahan and Pegah meet today in the semifinals of Iran’s Cup.
According to ISNA, Dastneshan added, “The good omen is that we escaped the danger of relegation in the Premier League. This has boosted the morale of our players. Two of our starters will not play against Sepahan due to injuries while all other players are in good shape. Pegah’s main tactic in this match will be to constantly attack and speed up the pace of the game.“
He recalled that Sepahan is a good team with good players.
“However, they are hurt, because they lost in the final match of Premier League. They will play against us in full force, which puts us in a tough condition.
Sepahan’s forte is counter-attack and this tactic can prove helpful for them in Winners’ Cup.
Sepahan are still craving for winning, as they are not satisfied with their performance in Premier League,“ he pointed out.
He expressed hope that there would be no extra time and his team could defeat Sepahan in regular time.

Jose Mourinho

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has described Chelsea’s season as ’really bad’ and said their campaign could be described as great only by someone with ’the philosophy of a loser’.
Mourinho, who left the English club in September, made his comments on the day that the man who succeeded him, Avram Grant, was sacked, eight months after he replaced Mourinho at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho, asked in an interview with ’The Observer’ whether the season had been a good one as depicted by Grant, replied, “That depends on your philosophy of leadership.
“In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football ’almost’ means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling (League) Cup, almost won the Champions League and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.
“After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect,“ he said in the interview published on Sunday.
Mourinho admitted to being ’very sad’ at Chelsea’s defeat in Moscow to Manchester United in the Champions League final, adding that the supporters, the board and the players ’deserve more’.
“I am very sad about what happened. In the last two years this team lost a Champions League final and a Champions League semifinal on penalties. The supporters deserve more, (the players) and some others deserve happiness. I still think of them as my boys.“
However, he added, “I believe that after an empty season new success will come to Chelsea. And I will always be a Chelsea supporter.“
Mourinho is being linked with a return to Stamford Bridge alongside names including Frank Rijkaard, Guus Hiddink, Roberto Mancini and Marcello Lippi.

Fabio Capello

England coach Fabio Capello has said he believes he can take England to the World Cup final for the first time since they became world champions under Alf Ramsey in 1966.
“I think I can take England further than Bobby Robson in 1990, why not? We need to be ambitious,“ Capello said in an FA statement.
“I have always worked to arrive at the top. I have been with Roma, Juventus, Milan, Real Madrid and always wanted to go to the very top. I don’t understand why people feel differently.“
Capello, who took over the England team in January after they were eliminated from Euro 2008 finals, has been in charge for two matches.
He made his statement to the English FA’s website before friendlies against the United States and Trinidad & Tobago over the next week.
Since England won the World Cup almost 42 years ago the nearest they have been to the final was 18 years ago when Bobby Robson’s side lost to West Germany on penalties in the 1990 semifinals in Italy.
Capello won his first match in charge of England when they beat Switzerland 2-1 at Wembley before losing 1-0 to France in Paris.

Andy Murray came through a topsy-turvy encounter against French wildcard Jonathan Eysseric 6-2 1-6 4-6 6-0 6-2 to reach the French Open second round.
The British 10th seed has been struggling on clay all season and appeared to be heading for a major upset at two sets to one down.
But Murray won all six games in the fourth set to level and made the decisive break in the final set.
Murray will face Argentine Jose Acasuso in the second round.
Acasuso, a clay-court specialist, could pose an even tougher test for Murray, whose win over Eysseric was his first at Roland Garros following his first-round defeat in 2006 and his withdrawal through injury last year.
“I didn’t play particularly well and he made me do a lot of running which wasn’t the plan,“ Murray told BBC.
“Playing a young guy you’ve not seen takes a little bit of time to get used to.
“But I never felt I was going to lose the match. I was happy I came through it.“
Murray revealed that he had been on antibiotics since Tuesday for a throat infection which forced him to cut back his training.
“I was told to do half of what I would normally do,“ Murray said.
“I had to make sure I wasn’t tiring myself out too much and getting a lot of sleep. I feel a bit better today but this has been the first day I have been feeling good.“

Roberto Donadoni

Temperamental striker Antonio Cassano should not be treated like he is from another planet, Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said on Sunday.
Eyebrows were raised last week when the 25-year-old was surprisingly named in Donadoni’s provisional Euro 2008 squad, having not been called up since 2006.
The Sampdoria forward, on loan from Real Madrid, has had a superb season but also served a five-match ban for verbally abusing a referee and throwing his shirt towards him.
“Antonio Cassano is just a lad, don’t make him into an alien,“ the coach told a news conference on the first day of Italy training ahead of Friday’s final friendly with Belgium.
“I believe after that heavy suspension in the league he has understood what it means to be in a group.“
Team mates including full back Gianluca Zambrotta have also backed the talented frontman.
“I am not surprised to see Cassano with the national team,“ Zambrotta said. “He’s had a good season and I don’t believe he needs particular advice. We are not talking about a 16-year-old boy.“