Soccer Digest

A round-up of today's soccer news in brief

Mascherano to stay at Liverpool

LIVERPOOL midfielder Javier Mascherano has pledged his future to the club and expects a new contract to be signed “in the next few weeks”.

Securing the Argentina captain and goalkeeper Jose Reina on extended deals have been a priority of manager Rafael Benitez. With Reina close to finally concluding the deal it appears Mascherano will not be far behind him.

“The club are talking with my agents,” said Mascherano, who was a reported target for Barcelona in the summer. “I don’t like to be involved in the contract meetings so I leave that to my agents and the people at the club. Liverpool know I want to stay. I don’t think it will be difficult to arrive at a deal and we will see what happens in the next few weeks.”

Benitez has always been confident the 25-year-old would extend his stay at Anfield.

Carvalho out for four weeks

CHELSEA will be without Ricardo Carvalho for at least four weeks after the Portugal defender damaged ankle ligaments in Wednesday’s 5-0 win over Portsmouth.

The London club, second in the league just one point behind champions Manchester United, were already depleted in defence with England left back Ashley Cole, Serbia defender Branislav Ivanovic and Carvalho’s compatriot Jose Bosingwa all sidelined. Chelsea’s injury list also includes midfielder Michael Essien. Carvalho will miss the April 3rd showdown against United at Old Trafford but will hope to be fit to play for Portugal at the World Cup in South Africa in June.

Hargreaves may be back before end of season

OWEN Hargreaves may play for Manchester United this season after all. Alex Ferguson summoned the midfielder to train with the first team yesterday, raising hopes that he may have a part to play in the title race.

Hargreaves’s career has been interrupted by severe knee problems but last week he played his first reserve game for 18 months.

Another appearance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s second string had been pencilled in for last night but Ferguson decided a return to training with the first-team squad was the better option.

“Owen won’t be playing for the reserves,” said Manchester United’s manager yesterday. “He’s going to be training with the first team and we’ll see where that takes him.

“We’re keen to get Owen back involved because he’s an experienced player and will be a valuable addition for us in the run-in, when having a strong, fit squad is vital,” he said.

The 29-year-old is eligible for only Premier League games as he was not registered for the Champions League knockout

phase after specialists suggested he would probably not recover in time to play at such a high level this season.

Ireland schools defeat Wales

SEÁN Brosnan from St Patrick’s School in Castleisland marked his Irish Under-18 Schools international debut with the only goal of the game against Wales last night in Haverfordwest.

The Kerry striker followed up to convert on 17 minutes when the Welsh goalkeeper could only parry Seán Skelly’s wicked free-kick.

Brosnan, Robbie Benson and Gary Shaw all spurned good chances to extend the lead as Ireland dominated the first-half, but they held out for a victory to boost their Centenary Shield title ambitions.

REP OF IRELAND: J Byrne (De La Salle, Waterford); B Nolan (St Paul’s CC), J Dwane (St Peter’s Col), T Boyle (Salesian Col), N Murphy (Coláiste Ris); D Horgan (St Enda’s, Galway), S Skelly (St Joseph’s Fairview), H Douglas (St Brendan’s Col); G Shaw (Patrician SS), R Benson (Marist Col), S Brosnan (St Patrick’s SS, Castleisland). Subs: D Walshe (St Kieran’s Col) for Shaw, S Chambers (St Fintan’s) for Skelly, T O’Halloran (Athlone CC) for Brosnan, B O’Mahony (Summerhill Col) for Benson.

Real Madrid reclaim top spot

REAL Madrid climbed back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain both netted twice to seal a 4-2 victory at city rivals Getafe last night.

Champions Barca ground out a laboured 2-0 win at home to Osasuna on Wednesday to go three points clear on 71 and Real reclaimed the lead thanks to a superior goal difference over their arch rivals.

Ronaldo fired Real in front in the 13th minute with a free-kick before Argentina striker Higuain scored his 21st and 22nd goals of the campaign to put the visitors three ahead inside 23 minutes.

Ronaldo cut in from the right to smash home a fourth in the 37th before Daniel Parejo and Pedro Leon scored consolation goals for Getafe.