Ribery stakes claim

Ribery played an integral part in the Ligue 1 side's victory over Bolton on Thursday as his side progressed into the last sixteen of the UEFA Cup with a 2-1 victory.

The France under-21 international has yet to be called up to the full squad, but the former Galatasaray man seems determined to make a late bid to be part of Domenech's plans for Germany in the summer.

And judging by the performance Ribery put in at the Stade Velodrome, he will fully merit a place in the French squad come June.

Argentina coach Jose Pekerman received some good news this week as Gabriel Heinze revealed he will be making a comeback sooner than originally thought after a cruciate ligament injury had sidelined the Manchester United man since September.

The 27-yera-old has not kicked a ball since he injured his knee in United's champions League match against Villarreal on September 14th, and he has his eye on a return before the end of the season.

And that could mean a World Cup berth for the versatile defender.

"I have a bet with Alex Ferguson about returning to the field this season and I am going to win it," Heinze said this week.

"I think about the World Cup in Germany as the big final target for my rehab."

It was also a good week for young Spanish striker Cesc Fabregas after the Arsenal playmaker was called up to the Spain squad for the first time following an impressive season under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger at Highbury.

The 18-year-old was part of Arsenal's memorable win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu midweek, and he has been rewarded for his recent performances with a chance to stake his claim to injured Xavi's midfield place for the Finals in the summer.

It has been a bad week for two players in particular this week after an on-field incident during a Champions League match led to a red card, a resulting war of words and the credibility of footballers being brought into question once again.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Chelsea's Asier del Horno were involved in an incident on Wednesday that resulted in the Spanish full back seeing red for his challenge on the Argentine wonderkid.

Criticism has flooded in for Del Horno for his bully-boy tactics as he attempted to rough his opponent up, and for Messi, who seemingly over-reacted to the full back's shoulder barge.

And the fall out has inevitably taken the form of a verbal war between the two clubs with every man and his dog offering an opinion on the subject, which can only damage the reputations of everyone involved, and the game itself.

By far this week's ugliest incident came at Anfield last Saturday when Manchester United midfielder Alan Smith broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in a horrifically freak incident in United's FA Cup game against Liverpool.

The England man raced out to block a free kick, but as he fell, he landed awkwardly and sustained the horror injury.

The looks on the faces of his team-mates as they ran to his aid said it all, and now Smith is certain to miss the World Cup, even if doctors confirmed later in the week that he should make a full recovery.

Not so serious, but nonetheless an injury that casts more shadows over the World Cup, was the injury Francesco Totti picked up during Roma's game against Empoli last weekend.

The injury - sustained in a heavy challenge with Empoli defender Richard Vanigli - is likely to keep the Italian forward out of action for around two months.

Only time will tell if he can return to the same kind of form he had been in before the injury, but Italy boss Marcello Lippi will certainly be hoping so.

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