Gerrard makes scoring return

Steven Gerrard swept away the stress of his courtroom battle to score a trademark goal on his return to action.

Just hours after being found not guilty of affray by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court, the Reds captain made a surprise appearance in a pre-season friendly at Tranmere.

In a Liverpool XI otherwise comprised of reserves and youth players, Gerrard scored his team's first equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Prenton Park, blasting home a low drive from outside the box.

The news will have been welcomed on the other side of the world, where Rafael Benitez and the rest of his first-team players are currently engaged in a pre-season tour of the Far East.

Benitez was told of Gerrard's acquittal during a training session and said: "We are really pleased. He is very important for us and he can now focus just on football.

"We are all pleased at the club and over here at the training camp.

We have been supporting him all the time and were just waiting for the decision. Now he can concentrate just on football and hopefully play at the same level as last year."

This has not been the smoothest of pre-seasons for Benitez, and the Far East tour this week has been dogged by a succession of problems.

Injuries to Martin Skrtel and Nabil El Zhar which forced the players to return to England for treatment have come on top of the continued transfer saga surrounding Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Alvaro Arbeloa.

But as he prepared his side for Sunday's friendly against Singapore, Benitez was relieved that the cloud hanging over Gerrard has now been swept away after he was acquitted at Liverpool Crown Court following an incident in Southport on December 29 last year.

Gerrard has missed the Far East trip because of the week-long trial, and will be reunited with his team-mates next week when Liverpool return to the UK.

Speaking outside court after the verdict, Gerrard said: "Can I just say how pleased I am with today's verdict.

"I'd like to put this case behind me. I'm really looking forward to the season ahead and concentrating on football.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to my legal team, my friends and family and to everyone at Liverpool Football Club for supporting me."

Benitez also confirmed that Real Madrid target Alonso was fit following an ankle injury and ready to play against Singapore.

Benitez, who also has Yossi Benayoun back from an ankle problem, said: "I am very happy to have Yossi and Xabi back. They are working very hard, the tempo of the session was fantastic and the fans really enjoyed it.

"We are trying to step up our training every day, especially for the international players. Today we had three teams playing against each other. It was good competition and pleasing for me to see."

Dudek delighted with Reds raids

Jerzy Dudek has welcomed the capture of Alvaro Arbeloa and hopes another of his former team-mates, Xabi Alonso, follows suit.

Arbeloa passed his medical with Madrid today and will pen a five-year contact with the Spanish giants to complete his £3.5million move from Liverpool.

The 26-year-old Spain international becomes Madrid's seventh signing of the summer and Dudek is delighted with the move, saying of Arbeloa: "He's an all-round player. He's making great progress and I think that with his quality he can help this team in defence.

"He's a very good friend of mind and the fact he's an international guarantees his worth."

Aside from Arbeloa, Madrid have also signed Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Raul Albiol, Alvaro Negredo and Esteban Granero this summer as part of returning president Florentino Perez's "spectacular sporting project" to get the club back to the top of the football tree.

Argentina centre-back Ezequiel Garay is also a new face at the club, although he was signed from Racing Santander 12 months ago before immediately being loaned back to the Cantabrian side for the last campaign.

Madrid's spending spree might not be over yet either, with Arbeloa's fellow Spain international and former Anfield team-mate Alonso still believed to be high on the Primera Division outfit's wish list.

Liverpool's asking price for Alonso, which is reported to be around £30million, has been the sticking point so far, with the Spanish club unwilling to go that high.

However, Dudek is hoping a deal can be sorted out that will see Alonso plying his trade at the Bernabeu next season.

"He has a lot of quality and is also a great person off the pitch. I hope that he comes, although it is not easy to negotiate with (Liverpool manager) Rafa Benitez," Dudek added.

Dementieva too strong for Brit

Anne Keothavong was no match for Elena Dementieva in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.

The duo were playing for the first time since Wimbledon - when Dementieva bowed out in the semi-finals to tournament winner Serena Williams while Keothavong exited in the first round in straight sets to Austrian Patricia Mayr.

Third seed Dementieva eased to a 6-1 6-4 success tonight in a repeat of last year's US Open third round match.

Elsewhere at Stanford, Romania's Monica Niculescu overpowered America's Meghann Shaughnessy 6-1 6-0, Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-0 6-1, while Hungary's Melinda Czink saw off Alisa Kleybanova, of Russia, 6-0 7-5.

Adebayor wants Toure reunion

Emmanuel Adebayor has told Manchester City to sign his former Arsenal team-mate Kolo Toure.

Togo international Adebayor recently swapped the Emirates Stadium for Eastlands in a big-money move to join the ambitious project on offer in Manchester.

The 25-year-old is now keen for defender Toure to follow him to City, who have set their sights on overtaking Arsenal in the top four of the Premier League.

City boss Mark Hughes is chasing Chelsea centre-back John Terry, but Adebayor believes Toure would also be a successful signing.

He said: "Kolo is a great friend of mine. He is a big player for Arsenal and a top defender.

"He has been playing in the Premier League for seven or eight years now so he knows this league really well.

"If the manager could get him, he can get exactly what this club wants and needs from him. I'm sure about that.

"I know how good Kolo is and I think what Man City needs now is a top quality defender like him or John Terry."

Alonso claims pole in Hungary

Renault's Fernando Alonso will be on pole for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix after an incident-packed qualifying session.

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull qualified second fastest with team-mate Mark Webber in third.

However the session was somewhat over-shadowed by a serious crash involving Felipe Massa, which resulted in the Brazlian being taken to hospital.

And the drama did not stop there as confusion reigned at the end of the session with the timing screens at the Hungaroring going black towards the end of the top-10 shootout.

After several minutes, it finally came through that Alonso had taken pole, followed by the Red Bull duo, with Lewis Hamilton fourth for McLaren.

It was the double world champion's first pole since the Italian Grand Prix in 2007, and the 18th of his career.

Explaining the chaos at the end, Alonso said: "We were chatting amongst ourselves in parc ferme trying to find out what happened.

"It was a fantastic effort from the team. We put in some new parts at the Nurburging (German Grand Prix), and we've showed we have made a step forward.''

Behind world champion Hamilton will be Williams' Nico Rosberg, the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, with championship leader Jenson Button down in a disastrous eighth.

The heat of Budapest was meant to aid Button's cause after the cool of Britain and Germany had led to Red Bull one-twos in the last two races.

But not even the sunshine could come to Button's aid, and his 21-point lead in the title race threatens to be eroded further at the Hungaroring.

Behind Button are Williams' Kazuki Nakajima, with Felipe Massa 10th as he naturally took no part in the closing 10 minutes following a serious crash which saw him taken to hospital.

However, he is expected to take part in Sunday's race.

In the 15-minute Q2, the biggest loser was Rubens Barrichello, with the Brazilian failing to make it into the top 10 for the first time this season due to the part that broke off his car and resulted in Massa's crash.

The 37-year-old will start a miserable 13th, with that failure potentially wrecking his championship chances, which could now prompt Brawn into putting all their eggs into Button's basket.

Either side of Barrichello are the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli in 12th and Timo Glock 14th, while Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi will start 11th and Renault's Nelson Piquet 15th.

After being given a reprieve by Renault, as the race in Germany was expected to be the Brazilian's last, Piquet's F1 career is poised to draw to a close.

Given equal equipment for this race with team-mate Alonso, Piquet finished half-a-second adrift of the double world champion in Q2.

Although rookie Jaime Alguersuari became the youngest to take part in a Formula One qualifying session, there was no fairytale for the 19-year-old.

Alguersuari had run faultlessly through three practice sessions, at least proving he was anything but 'a danger' as suggested by triple world champion Niki Lauda.

In qualifying, however, Alguersuari was undermined by an electrical fault that forced him to pull his Toro Rosso off track in the final sector.

Come the conclusion of the 20-minute period, Alguersuari sat at the bottom of the timesheets, in many respects where he was expected to finish even if his car had not let him down.

However, he finished just 0.4secs shy of Robert Kubica as there was no respite for the wretched form of the BMW Saubers, with team-mate Nick Heidfeld also ditched in Q1 as he will start 16th.

Sandwiched in between in 17th and 18th are Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil, the latter only just managing to set a time.

Sutil's car spent the majority of the session in the garage as his mechanics attempted manfully to make repairs after a crash in final practice in which he buried the nose of his car in a tyre wall.

Adebayor: Arsenal needed the money

Emmanuel Adebayor believes that Arsenal sold him to Manchester City as they needed the funds from his transfer.

Adebayor was recently acquired by Man City for £25 million and has suffered the wrath from a section of the Gunners fans, but he insists that the move was not his call.

He told The Daily Mail, "I came back from holiday and in my first training session they told me that they had accepted an offer for me."

"I asked Wenger why he wanted to sell me. I found out that Arsenal needed the money and that I was the target."

"I never wanted to leave."

"I'm happy they get their money and I hope they spend it well."

The striker continued, saying that the comments from the fans were uncalled for.

"I scored 30 goals for Arsenal two seasons ago and it was not my fault that AC Milan, Barcelona or Real Madrid wanted to buy me."

"The way the fans turned against me was not nice. They didn't turn on Cesc Fabregas when Barcelona showed interest in him."

"When a player plays well, clubs come in for him. The fans never understood that and I cannot understand why they went after me."

"I played my heart out for that club and gave it my best and the way the fans behaved towards me was not nice at all."

Gerrard in dock over alleged affray

England midfielder Steven Gerrard was in the dock today as jurors waited to be called to try his affray case.

The Liverpool captain, 29, stood next to his six co-accused at Liverpool Crown Court in a dark grey suit and black suede shoes.

The millionaire star took his place behind the glass sealed dock in courtroom 4:1 as Judge Henry Globe QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, adjourned the hearing until 2.15pm for legal discussions.

The midfielder arrived early at court to meet his solicitor Richard Green for discussions ahead of the trial opening.

The father-of-two is accused of affray - which he denies.

It is alleged Gerrard was involved in a nightclub melee in Southport in the early hours of December 29 in which businessman Marcus McGee, 34, was injured.

Gerrard was celebrating Liverpool's 5-1 demolition of Newcastle when trouble began.

Gerrard, of Formby, Merseyside, is jointly charged with Accrington Stanley goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin, 28, of Guildford Road, Southport and midfielder Robert Grant, 18, of Enstone Road, Litherland.

Also on trial are John Doran, 29, of Woodlands Road, Ian Smith, 19, of Hilary Avenue, John McGrattan, 33, of Rimmer Avenue, and Paul McGrattan, 31, of Linden Drive, all of Huyton, Merseyside.

Following further legal submissions, the case was adjourned again until tomorrow morning without a jury being sworn in.

The trial is scheduled to last between two and three weeks.

Owen issues rallying cry

Michael Owen has called on his Manchester United team-mates to "step up to the plate".

Owen enjoyed the perfect start to life as United's new number seven by scoring a late winner as the Red Devils opened their Far East tour with a 3-2 win over a Malaysia XI.

Given his reputation, Owen will be one of the main men asked to replace the 67 goals Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the two seasons prior to his world record £80million move to Real Madrid.

Owen is confident he can deliver. And he is hoping to help the rest of Sir Alex Ferguson's players give that little bit extra as well.

"Hopefully I might add something the team haven't got at the moment," he said.

"Nobody is going to replace Ronaldo, even though I wear his shirt, but if someone like Wayne (Rooney) could improve his game five per cent, that would help. I can add a little bit, there is Antonio Valencia.

"Everyone is going to have to step up to the plate a bit more to make up for him."

No-one, least of all Owen himself or manager Ferguson is going to get carried away by one 30 minute cameo.

Nevertheless, there were encouraging signs that Owen's trademark runs will be spotted by the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs just as the former Liverpool striker felt on the day he jumped at the chance of joining United.

"There are so many players on my wavelength - world-class players," he said.

"I would hope there is no-one similar to me in the way that I play. I can see Wayne Rooney or Paul Scholes as soon as they get the ball looking for one of my runs."

Ferguson spotted it too, although his words were of caution in the knowledge that it is against Birmingham on August 16 that Owen's contribution can start to be judged.

"It was a friendly game," he said.

"I am sure Michael will be delighted he got off the mark but I am looking ahead to the season.

"I know he will give us a good contribution of goals. That will be a more important time to appraise him."

However, Owen was able to empathise with fellow goalscorer Wayne Rooney about how good it feels to find the net again.

"It's always nice to get off the mark, not just when you join a new club but any time," he said.

"I was sat chatting to Wayne in the dressing room afterwards and he feels the same way."

As Owen replaced Rooney after an hour at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, the pair have not been on the pitch at the same time yet.

That situation might be rectified on Monday when United tackle the same opposition, in the same stadium, having been forced into a hasty tour revamp following the terrorist atrocity in Jakarta on Friday.

Ferguson has pledged to make changes, which Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher both hoping to have recovered from minor niggles that kept them out on Saturday.

United have confirmed Park Ji-sung will not be available as he will not join his team-mates until they land in Seoul on Wednesday evening after being given an extended summer break due to his international commitments with South Korea.

For Owen though, a first Manchester United start on Monday will offer another opportunity to impress, having only been highlighted in the centre of Ferguson's radar when Karim Benzema rejected Old Trafford in favour of a move to Real Madrid.

"In previous years it has been the little things that have gone against me, like clubs not being able to agree a fee, but this time it has gone in my favour," reflected Owen.

"You have bad and good luck in your career which people don't get to find out about it.

"I don't care whether I was first or 100th choice. I just want to do well for Manchester United."

Woods misses cut, Watson leads

Turnberry turned from a pussycat into a beast, while Tiger Woods fell victim, Tom Watson was going strong.

Birdies at the 16th and 17th came too late to save world number one Woods from missing only his second halfway cut in 49 majors as a professional and his first in the Open.

But just before the three-time winner made his shock exit - a horror run of seven dropped shots in six holes around the turn did the damage in a 74 - 59-year-old five-time champion Watson unbelievably sank 60-foot birdie putts on both the 16th and 18th greens.

And with the second of those he joined little-known fellow American Steve Marino out in front on five under par at the halfway stage.

In the wind and rain Watson, back on the course where he won his 'Duel in the Sun' with Jack Nicklaus in 1977, added a level-par 70 to his opening 65 and is thought to be the oldest player ever to lead a major.

Sam Snead was 54 when he held top spot halfway through the 1966 US PGA Championship.

"I would not be here if I didn't think I could win," said Watson before comparing himself to "another old fart", namely Greg Norman, who at 53 led with nine holes to go at Birkdale last July.

"I said on Thursday that the spirits are with me. They keep me focused on the game plan.

"I guess the memories are with me, all the wonderful memories I've had playing links golf.

"To be able to be doing what I'm doing, that's pretty cool at age 59."

In September he will be 60.

Woods reflected: "I just played three holes very poorly. I was right where I wanted to be and bogey-bogey-double (at eight, nine and 10) got it going the wrong way.

"It's frustrating. I was playing well the first seven holes and was right there in the championship."

Watson is playing his 32nd Open. Marino is playing his first - but that did not stop Ben Curtis winning at Sandwich six years ago or Watson at Carnoustie in 1975.

The 29-year-old is on his first-ever trip to Britain and a week ago he was not even in the field.

He has never won a US Tour title, but was in a play-off in May, stands 77th in the world and is a star in the making according to 1989 winner Mark Calcavecchia, who lies just a stroke behind.

"He really doesn't have any weaknesses that I've seen," said 49-year-old Calcavecchia, like Watson trying to become the oldest major winner in history.

"He's a great kid and has got a ton of talent. He's going to win soon and it may even be this week."

Just getting to Scotland was an adventure for Marino, whose 20-foot eagle putt on the long 17th helped him to a two-under 68 - as, of course, did holing a 116-yard wedge at the third and sinking a bunker shot three holes later.

Originally third reserve, he was playing in Illinois last week when he moved up two spots, but did not have his passport with him and so asked his father - a missile defence engineer - to fly from Virginia to Florida to pick it up and send it to him.

Then, just before crossing the Atlantic, he was told that Japan's Shingo Katayama had pulled out with a back injury and he would be playing his first Open.

"They have links courses in the States, but it's not like it is over here," said Marino, whose early pro career included a 13-under-par 59 in a mini-tour event in Arizona.

"I'm just having a blast. It's awesome.

"I love the challenge that it presents. You have to drive it straight and, most importantly, you have to stay patient and stay positive.

"Once you start getting down on yourself and thinking negatively it will go bad real quick."

Padraig Harrington, after early exits from his last five Tour events, was facing the possibility of another when he stood four over with five to play, but the Dubliner parred the next three, birdied the 17th and made his four on the last to make sure he survived.

He may be eight back, but the first hat-trick of Claret Jugs since Peter Thomson in 1956 cannot yet be ruled out.

First-round leader Miguel Angel Jimenez could add only a 73 to his 64, but England's Ross Fisher, whose wife could go into labour at any time, improved to the same three-under total with a 68.

In the clubhouse alongside them are major winners Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh and Japan's Kenichi Kuboya.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero, as well as having the thrill of watching Watson, guaranteed himself the silver medal as leading amateur.

Only two were in the 156-strong field and while German Stephan Gross, the European champion, could do no better than nine over, British champion Manassero shot a superb 70 to be one over and safely through.

Woods was not the only big name to crash out.

Also out went Colin Montgomerie and Sandy Lyle after a week both will want to forget in a hurry - not just for their golf, of course - Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, David Duval and last year's runner-up Ian Poulter.

Lloyd and Elliot Saltman, the first brothers in the event since Joe and Jumbo Ozaki in 1992, failed to make it through to the last 36 holes as well.

Collated second round scores & totals

135 Steve Marino (USA) 67 68, Tom Watson (USA) 65 70

136 Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 67 69

137 Vijay Singh (Fij) 67 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67 70, Ross Fisher 69 68, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 64 73, Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 65 72

138 J.B. Holmes (USA) 68 70, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 66 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 67 71, Stewart Cink (USA) 66 72, Lee Westwood 68 70

139 Jeff Overton (USA) 70 69, Jim Furyk (USA) 67 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 66 73, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 70, Boo Weekley (USA) 67 72, Branden Grace (Rsa) 67 72

140 Anthony Wall 68 72, John Daly (USA) 68 72, Justin Leonard (USA) 70 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 68 72, Nick Dougherty 70 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 67 73, Chris Wood 70 70

141 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 70, Graeme McDowell 68 73, Zach Johnson (USA) 70 71, David Howell 68 73, Metteo Manassero (Ita) 71 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 71, Justin Rose 69 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 72, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 69 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 70

142 Billy Mayfair (USA) 69 73, Oliver Wilson 72 70, Davis Love III (USA) 69 73, Kevin Sutherland (USA) 69 73, Tom Lehman (USA) 68 74, Darren Clarke 71 71, Paul Broadhurst 70 72, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 72, David Drysdale 69 73, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 70 72, Andres Romero (Arg) 68 74, Paul McGinley 71 71

143 Bryce Molder (USA) 70 73, Steve Stricker (USA) 66 77, Nick Watney (USA) 71 72, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 72, Daniel Gaunt (Aus) 76 67, Kenny Perry (USA) 71 72, Rory McIlroy 69 74, Sean O'Hair (USA) 68 75, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 74 69, Luke Donald 71 72, Padraig Harrington 69 74, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 71 72

144 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 76, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 73, Graeme Storm 72 72, Paul Goydos (USA) 72 72, Mark O'Meara (USA) 67 77, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 74, Paul Lawrie 71 73, Paul Casey 68 76, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 73

Missed cut145 Tiger Woods (USA) 71 74, Charley Hoffman (USA) 71 74, Anders Hansen (Den) 68 77, Adam Scott (Aus) 71 74, Colin Montgomerie 71 74, Todd Hamilton (USA) 75 70, Ben Curtis (USA) 65 80, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 74, Josh Geary (Nzl) 70 75, Mike Weir (Can) 67 78, D.J. Trahan (USA) 68 77

146 John Senden (Aus) 66 80, Peter Baker 74 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 76, Matt Kuchar (USA) 70 76, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 68 78, Anthony Kim (USA) 73 73, K J Choi (Kor) 74 72, Elliot Saltman 70 76, Briny Baird (USA) 72 74, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 75, Martin Laird 74 72, Ben Crane (USA) 71 75

147 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 74 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 76, David Toms (USA) 72 75, David Duval (USA) 71 76, Rhys Davies 73 74, Mark Brown (Nzl) 71 76, James Driscoll (USA) 76 71, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 76 71, Richard Green (Aus) 71 76, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 74 73

148 Robert Rock 73 75, Gary Orr 73 75, Bubba Watson (USA) 73 75, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 75 73, Charles Howell III (USA) 73 75, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 71 77, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 71 77, David Higgins 73 75, Sandy Lyle 75 73, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 73 75, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 77

149 Richie Ramsay 77 72, Azuma Yano (Jpn) 75 74, David Smail (Nzl) 70 79, Stephan Gross (Ger) 74 75, Lucas Glover (USA) 72 77, Brian Gay (USA) 73 76, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 77 72, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 72 77, Stephen Ames (Can) 72 77, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 72 77

150 Timothy Wood (Aus) 73 77, Chad Campbell (USA) 73 77, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn) 71 79, Ken Duke (USA) 71 79, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 68 82, Steve Surry 69 81

151 Hunter Mahan (USA) 72 79, Nick Faldo 78 73, Jeremy Kavanagh 74 77, Richard Finch 73 78, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 74 77, Tim Stewart (Aus) 74 77, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 75 76

152 Damien McGrane 78 74, Greg Norman (Aus) 77 75, Lloyd Saltman 75 77, Thomas Haylock 74 78

153 Bruce Vaughan (USA) 78 75, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 75 78

154 Dustin Johnson (USA) 78 76, Koumei Oda (Jpn) 76 78, Ian Poulter 75 79

155 Daniel Wardrop 75 80

156 Michael Wright (Aus) 77 79

157 Oliver Fisher 79 78

160 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 79 81

161 Peter Ellebye (Den) 77 84

162 Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 83 79

Ret Michael Campbell (Nzl) 78

(x) denotes amateurs, Par 70)

Jakarta Bombs: United cancel trip

Manchester United have cancelled Saturday's match against an Indonesia Super League XI in Jakarta following today's bomb attacks.

The blasts affected two hotels, one of which, the Ritz-Carlton, was the hotel United were supposed to be staying in tomorrow night after leaving the first game of their four-match tour in Kuala Lumpur.

United now have the option to remain in Malaysia for a few extra days or travel up to Seoul for what should have been the third leg of their trip next Friday.

However, there might also be reservations among the players - many of whom have young families - about being so far away from home and pressure might be applied to go straight back to the UK.

United chief executive David Gill is on the tour and he will no doubt be left to make the final decision, whatever that may be.

Details of the attacks, which were carried out at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, were still sketchy this morning.

Witnesses at the scene told Indonesian Metro TV that the injured, including Indonesians and foreigners, were seen being taken away in ambulances.

It was reported that in addition to the eight dead, 10 people received treatment.

Although there have been no terrorist problems in the country for a number of years and presidential elections passed off peacefully recently, the Marriott Hotel was badly damaged by a car bomb attack in 2003 that killed 12 people.

That coincided with a period when Islamist militants from the Jemaah Islamiyah organisation were blamed for numerous attacks, including bombings on the island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. Many militants have since been arrested.

Hughes issues plea to Terry

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has urged Chelsea defender John Terry to make the move to Eastlands to "reignite" his career.

City are determined to continue their big-money spending spree with a move for the England captain following the arrivals of Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez.

Hughes has seen two bids rejected by Chelsea for Terry, but the Eastlands outfit are refusing to give up their pursuit of the centre-half.

Terry has so far refused to comment publicly on his future, but Hughes believes the defender may need to join City for a new challenge at this stage of his career.

"We would like to think we could offer him a different challenge," said Hughes.

"From my own experience, when you have been with a club a long time, you maybe get to a point when you need a new challenge, when you think a change of scenery would just reignite certain things within you.

"It is not a question of money. It's about a different challenge, a different stage in his life and career, and maybe that's why there hasn't been a response because John is seriously thinking in those terms.

"I went through that process myself and I can understand if that is the way he is thinking.

"We made an offer to Chelsea and I've made known my feelings about John Terry.

"He's an outstanding player and an outstanding person. We'd like the opportunity to speak to him but as yet that hasn't been forthcoming."

BPL Heroes and Zeroes: Carlos Tevez

Is Carlos Tevez a hero or a zero for rejecting Man United for Man City? Eugene YS Han takes a closer look ...

HERO?

Carlos Tevez is brave (or some say, foolish) to reject the possibility of more silverware and glory at Manchester United for the relative uncharted waters at Manchester City.

Not many players have the balls and guts to reject Sir Alex Ferguson - not once, not twice, but four times! The Old Trafford faithful also tried their best to persuade El Apache to stay on.

But Tevez had other ideas.

What Tevez wants, however, is something he cannot get at United or even Chelsea. He wants a guaranteed first-team place. He may not be the most glamourous of strikers but he has the strike-rate to prove his worth. 15 goals in all competition for United last season is no mean feat considering he was the fourth-choice hitman for the Red Devils - behind the departed Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. With Daniel Welbeck and Federico Macheda knocking on Ferguson's door, and not forgetting Michael Owen, Tevez knows his place in the first-eleven is not a given.

At City, he will become the main man, just as he did at West Ham. He has been acknowledged as a 'trier' and what City need is exactly this type of player. City's away record was abysmal last season but it could change with Tevez leading the line. The diminutive Argentine loves a scrap and he will inject some muscle into City's line-up. Tevez could well be worth ten away points for City next season.

ZERO?

If you thought Michael Owen's defection to Old Trafford is treason to Liverpool fans, how will United fans feel about one of their more popular strikers joining their local rivals City? This is the ultimate betrayal to United fans who had fawned over Tevez and tried their darnest to keep the player at the club.

Tevez is no stranger to controversies throughout his footballing career. His partnership with Media Sports Investments has bought him various complications but disaster to the clubs who 'signed' him. It's something West Ham and Corinthians supporters can attest to.

His move to City is questionable. No doubt City gave him a huge payday - £150,000 a week but he can get a similar package at Chelsea as well (if he asked nicely). The real reason is, perhaps, Tevez has an eye on the World Cup next season. With City not involved in European competition, Tevez will not have to play too many games. He will make sure he peaks at the end of the season and be ready to play for Argentina in South Africa.

But City want to be in the top-four next season - they have to get into the Champions League to justify their immense financial outlay. For a player who has a vested interest to playing for his country, will Tevez be as motivated enough to give his all for Man City next season?

VERDICT:

I do think Tevez is a good fit for Manchester City. They already have a lot of flair in the squad so they need grafters. That's why Mark Hughes went all out to get Gareth Barry and Tevez. They might not be the most technically-gifted players in the world but they can scrap and fight for every 50-50 ball. Tevez is also courageous enough to spur another chance to accumulate more trophies at Old Trafford. He just wanted to get out of the comfort zone.

For City, signing Tevez from rivals United also sends a strong message to the rest of the Premier League - that they mean business next season.