ASH: BLUE FUTURE

Having returned to his former club and helped orchestrate a resounding victory, Ashley Cole was understandably happy, insisting our season is far from over despite Champions League disappointment.

Reliable and well-placed in defence while being energetic and effective in attack, Cole will have been many fans' pick for man of the match on a stage where he admits he wanted to impress after picking himself up from Wednesday's draw with Barcelona.

'For me it's easy, coming back to my old club, I hate losing against Arsenal so of course it's going to make me more motivated but the lads have done well. a lot of people thought we would have been down but we showed a lot of character and at times defended really well. We have clinched third spot so we're happy,' he said, referring to the position that guarantees us a place in next season's elite European competition.

The England left-back pointed to the players' self-motivation, and the impact of Guus Hiddink as explanations for how we had been able to bounce back so brilliantly.

'Everyone was disappointed at losing in the semi-final of the Champions League. That's life, there's nothing we can do about that. The players here have great character, I have played with a lot of great players but here they motivate themselves very quickly and at Arsenal it had to show, and it did.

'I think we showed how good we were, we were happy with the result and no injuries so we are happy with that,' he added.

The win means it is mission accomplished for Hiddink, who was asked to guarantee a top three finish when he arrived at the club in February. Cole admits it will be a sad day when the Dutchman returns to his role with the Russian national side at the end of the month, and would welcome a longer stay.

'I really like him, he has brought a lot out of the players but it's not going to happen. All the players would love him to change his mind but it's not down to us and we are going to miss him,' said the 28-year-old.

'He gets you motivated very quickly, and he has been a big part of that. Our season is not over yet, we still have the FA Cup to go forward to, and we all want to win for him as well. It would be nice to send him off with the FA Cup.'

If Cole and his team-mates are victorious at Wembley on May 30, he will then hold the record number of winner's medals in the modern age - five - after previous victories in 2002, 2003 and 2005 with Arsenal and 2007 with the Blues.

The defender is determined to make that happen and avoid successive seasons with no silverware at Stamford Bridge.

'Yes, last season we could have had a treble and ended up with nothing. The FA Cup is a great trophy and one we want to win,' he stressed. 'The lads are very motivated to win and I think we have to win a trophy.'


Ashley Cole, plus John Terry and Nicolas Anelka, will be signing autographs in the Megastore at Stamford Bridge between 2pm and 4pm on Thursday (14 May), the day the new adidas home kit goes on sale.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. It cannot be guaranteed everyone will be seen.

Only one autograph-per-person will be possible and the signing session is subject to cancellation at short notice.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/

Podium finish augurs well for Jazeman's season

JAZEMAN Firhan Jaafar is fast and he is fifth in the Formula BMW Europe championship standings but he has chosen to play it down.

The 16-year-old will next travel to Monaco after registering his first ever podium finish in the European series in the opening round in Barcelona on Saturday, and he looks to have put behind him the agony of last year's troubled season.

He stands fifth with 32 points, thanks to his third and seventh places in the two races held as support races for the F1 Spanish Grand Prix over the weekend, and is 24 points behind leader Luiz Felipe Nasr of Brazil.

Jazeman started off with fastest lap times in free practice, just as he did on the Catalunya Circuit in the first pre-season tests in March and still holds the fastest lap times on the Spanish track among the Formula BMW drivers this season.

The series moves to what is respected as a true driver's circuit around the streets of Monaco in two weeks, where Jazeman will know that a good qualifying time will prove to take him a long way.
What he needs to do is stay faster than the pack not only at the start of the weekend but throughout. Which is usually easier said than done.

But the 2007 Formula BMW Asia champion should already be confident about his prospects with new team Eifelland, after a troubled season with the Am-Holzer-Rennsport last year which saw him finish 15th in the championship.

Already, a top five finish in the championship looks quite possible.

Championship standings: 1 Luiz Felipe Nasr (Bra) Eurointernational 56 points, 2 Michael Christensen (Den) Mucke Motorsport 54, 3 Daniel Juncadella (Spa) Eurointernational 36, 4 Robin Frijns (Ned) Josef Kaufmann Racing 36,5 Jazeman Firhan Jaafar (Mas) Eifelland 32, 6 David Mengesdorf (Ger) Eifelland 28 7 Javier Tarancon (Spa) DAMS-SAS 16, 8 Jim Pla (Fra)_DAMS 15, 9 Jack Harvey (Bri) Fortec 12, 10 Kazeem Manzur (Bri) Josef Kaufmann Racing 10.

Malaysia U23 0 Selangor 0 Friendly

For me 0-0 result in a match between Selangor and Malaysia Under 23 is a good start for K. Rajagopal squad. We should understand that this is not a final product from K. Rajagopal, it’s just a selection match for him to check on potential players for Malaysia Under 23.

After this, Malaysia Under 23 will get to two friendly matches in Singapore this month against Singapore Under 23 and Singapore League team.

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