One iconic No. 7 is going to have a word with the referee ahead of Sweden's forthcoming game with Portugal...

Sweden striker Henrik Larsson has claimed that his former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo is inclined to hit the ground a little too easily when tackled, and is warning his team-mates not to fall into the tricky winger's traps.

He also revealed that he will be speaking to the referee ahead of the Swedes' World Cup qualifier with the Portuguese in Porto on Saturday, as he fears that his nation's qualification hopes are under real threat from the Red Devil.

"I intend to speak with the referee before the match to warn him about Ronaldo diving," English tabloid The Daily Mail reports Larsson as telling reporters in Portugal earlier.

"We must be careful, as a team, not to get caught out by that, but so must the referee. I will be having a word with him and telling him to keep an eye out for it."

Ronaldo has become notorious in England for his alleged theatrics when tackled, though his club manager Alex Ferguson has pointed out that the player is subject to some excessively rough treatment from defenders, and referees should be offering the player more protection.

- Goal.com

The more Ben Foster attempted to untangle the riddle that is his football career, the more he sounded like some sort of high-wire performer rather than the latest great hope for a position once filled by such luminaries as Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton.

Indeed, after the furore surrounding Ledley King, the phrase "balancing act" was rarely far from Foster's lips as he fielded questions about his own club versus country headache.

On the one side of Foster's high-wire act is a desire to stay at Manchester United, yet over the other edge is the dream of replacing David James as England goalkeeper before next year's World Cup and the realisation he might need to leave Old Trafford in search of regular first-team football. A huge decision is looming.

"It's the biggest club in the world against the biggest competition in the world," Foster said. "I'm not happy just to sit around and be the No 2 goalkeeper. You have to be playing. You can't expect to go to the biggest competition in the world not playing regular football.

"I know Fabio has the rule of not picking players who haven't been playing for their clubs. I don't know what the future holds. I've got no desire to move away from Manchester United. I love the club. But, on the other hand, I've got ambitions.

"It's a bit of a fine line for me. I want to be at Manchester United for as long as I can be. But there comes a moment when I do want to be playing also. I am 25 and I am hoping to have another decade or longer in the game.

"Hopefully, it will just be a case of biding my time. It is frustrating, but you probably only get one chance at being at United. You expect there to be a lot of people fighting for the same position."

The fight is with Edwin van der Sar and Foster probably has until the end of next January either to replace the 38-year-old Dutchman or to leave for another club, whether permanently or on loan, if he is to have a chance of boarding the plane for South Africa next year as Capello's first-choice goalkeeper.

It is a curious situation and one which brings into sharp focus the changing landscape of the Premier League. There was a time when English football was a conveyor-belt of world-class goalkeepers, yet it is now one of the positions of greatest concern to Capello and his management team.

The level of hope that surrounds Foster is illustrated by Capello's willingness to break one of his guiding principles and select a player in the England squad who is not featuring for his club.

The way Foster rose to the big occasion of a Wembley final in the Carling Cup victory over Tottenham certainly provided encouragement for those like Aidy Boothroyd, his former manager at Watford, who regard him as potentially the best goalkeeper in the world.

Foster, though, is aware that the likes of Petr Cech, Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina had all accrued considerably more experience by the same age.

"I would like to think I am good enough," Foster said. "I enjoy playing the big games. I don't really feel the pressure or get nervous. When you're out there is front of 70-odd thousand people you really get to know yourself and to know what you're capable of.

"There's a lot more pressure on anyone when they are out there doing that. Some people fail miserably under that sort of pressure and other players just seem to thrive on it.

"I would like to think that I am one of those players who likes that sort of pressure."

- Telegraph.co.uk

Fabio Capello will tomorrow break his long-standing rule never to pick players who cannot get a regular game for their clubs by selecting Ben Foster in his squad to tackle Slovakia and the Ukraine.

Foster has been almost permanently injured since Capello replaced Steve McClaren 15 months ago.

Indeed, his bad luck goes back further than that, with just one England cap in in a career that has promised much but, until a man-of-the-match performance in Manchester United's Carling Cup Final win over Tottenham, delivered very little.

Capello had already heard plenty about Foster. But being at Wembley to get a first-hand view of the Red Devils keeper allowed the Three Lions chief to get confirmation.

And while a visit to Fulham a fortnight ago went unrewarded once Sir Alex Ferguson surprisingly decided to pick Edwin van der Sar against his former club, Capello intends to stick with his gut instinct.

"I will pick Foster,'' said the England boss. "A lot of people have told me he is a very good goalkeeper but he has always been injured. I watched him on TV and then he played in the Carling Cup Final and I saw him there.

"He surprised me with his confidence. I went to Fulham hoping to see him in the FA Cup tie but Sir Alex pulled him out. I will check him again during the week in training and then decide if he is going to play.''

As Capello has pledged to make his maximum number of six substitutions in the friendly against Slovakia in order to ensure his team are fresh and raring to go for the crucial World Cup qualifier against the Ukraine on April 1, there must be a reasonable chance Foster will add to the single cap he won under McClaren in a friendly defeat by Spain at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old will replace Joe Hart in the squad, the Manchester City youngster recently ousted from first-team duties by the arrival of Shay Given at Eastlands.

"It is different for goalkeepers,'' admitted Capello, when pressed on Foster's clear status as Old Trafford understudy to Van der Sar. "I want to get to know him and this is the first time he has been fit.''

As Van der Sar has signed a one-year contract extension to play on next term, Foster has no immediate prospect of getting a regular game at United.

However, Ferguson's pledge that the former Stoke star will be a United - and England - regular one day appears to have won Capello over.

While Foster represents a new face, the remainder should be pretty familiar - Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard are all set to be added to the squad that slipped to the 2-0 defeat in Spain last month.

The comprehensive nature of that loss seemed at the time to be a significant step backwards for the Three Lions.

But now he has had chance to look at the match again, Capello is genuinely optimistic for the future, believing it showed England can take on and beat the world's finest.

"When we lost against France (Capello's second game in charge) I said I was happy because I understood a lot of things,'' said the Italian. "Now I understand even more. I know the value of my team. The next time we play Spain it will be different. Now I know we can play against every country in the world.''

The one significant unknown remains the Wembley crowd.

Upwards of 75,000 are expected for Slovakia on Saturday evening - a pretty decent statement in itself.

But, against Kazakhstan in October and the Czech Republic a couple of months earlier, disaffected sections of the England support made their voices heard, leading to hints of a fear factor inside the home dressing room.

It is a problem that must be solved if England are to cruise towards South Africa 2010, although Capello is confident there will be no repeat of the jeering.

"The fans will help us this time,'' said Capello. "We will have 12 players on the pitch. I am sure of that. We need them.''

- ESPN

Bulgaria's football team captain Dimitar Berbatov will certainly sit out international duty against Ireland and Cyprus after suffering an ankle knock. The injury came during Manchester United clash with Fulham on Saturday afternoon.

"Dimitar's got a good crack on his ankle. There's some swelling there. We'll have a look in the morning. Bulgaria will have to miss Dimitar Berbatov," Manchester United Assistant Manager Mike Phelan told the BBC.

The doctor of the national football team ruled out any chance for Berbatov to join the match against Ireland.

“In no way can this happen. The injury will stop him from playing football for at least two weeks. Most probably this is about his old ankle problems, which have aggravated despite the measures that have been taken,” Mihail Ilev told the Bulgarian National TV channel.

The Bulgarians' new manager, Stanimir Stoilov, is facing an uphill battle since he can not bank on the experience of one more of his best footballers in the crucial forthcoming World Cup qualifier Martin Petrov, who is still recovering from a surgery.

Bulgaria is up against the Republic on 28 March.

- novinite.com