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Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente has hailed Spain team-mate Xavi as the best Spanish footballer of all time.

Xavi is set to earn his 100th cap for his country and has earned rave reviews for his performances for both Spain and Barcelona over the past year. With a nomination for the World Player of the Year and records broken aplenty for his passing at the World Cup, the classy midfielder has been in fine form and now Llorente has labelled him the best.

“Xavi is an unbelievable player, the best Spanish footballer of all-time,” Llorente told Sport.es. “He has won everything in football with Barca and Spain.

“It is wonderful to watch Xavi play. It takes many years at a very high level to do what he does. We are now eager to get a result in these two very important matches. Let’s see if we can do the job and get the points.”

Spain are currently top of Group I with three wins out of three and face the Czech Republic in a Euro 2012 qualifier on Friday before a friendly clash with Lithuania next Tuesday.

Coach Vicente del Bosque has warned his players not to “switch off” against the Czechs as he feels Michal Bilek’s side pose a major challenge.

“They are our biggest threat,” Del Bosque said. “They have great physical and technical qualities. They are very strong and have been one of the best teams in Europe in recent years.

“The worry for us is that most of our players are involved in domestic and European campaigns with their clubs and will continue to be so until the end of the season.

“We need to go into Friday’s game with the right mentality because if any one of us is switched off, it could really complicate things.”

Striker Fernando Torres is certainly sounding the right notes, telling El Mundo Deportivo that the players are focused on retaining their European title.

“The difficult thing in football for national teams is learning to win,” the Chelsea player said. “Spain did after many years of disappointments. There is now another challenge to retain the European Championship, something that nobody has ever done before.”

Valencia midfielder Juan Mata could get a rare start on Friday and is looking forward to the game, despite the distraction of the latter stages of the league campaign in Spain.

“Being selected is very important and takes all our focus now,” he said. “In La Liga it is the most crucial time of the season but that’s after the game against Lithuania.”

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Former Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz has had his six-month ban for allegedly disrupting an anti-doping testing session before last year’s World Cup lifted on appeal.

The Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority handed down the suspension last August after an incident with three of their doping control officers at the Portugal training camp in May.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport today ruled that the former Manchester United assistant’s conduct had not “disturbed the sample collection process or the work of the anti-doping officers”. But the panel did brand his behaviour “unacceptable”.

The CAS ruling said: “After their arrival, the anti-doping officers were approached by Mr Queiroz. Following a discussion, the anti-doping officers left to continue the anti-doping control and, as he was walking away Mr Queiroz uttered some very distasteful and sexually descriptive comments regarding the mother of the ADoP president.”

CAS said no players were directly involved in the incident and there was “no evidence that Mr Queiroz’ behaviour was intended to disturb the doping control”.

The ruling said Queiroz “did not dispute the fact that his comments were both inappropriate and offensive”.

Queiroz, the former Real Madrid coach who had two spells as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Old Trafford, was sacked as Portugal coach two days after a surprise 1-0 defeat to Norway in Euro 2012 qualifying last September.

He announced his intention to appeal against his suspension later that month, meaning he was free to work until the appeal hearing, though he has not found work since then.

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Dirk Kuyt has signalled his intention to commit his future to Liverpool, hailing the Reds’ recent resurgence and their renewed “ambition” under Kenny Dalglish.

After a poor start to the season that saw Roy Hodgson relieved of his duties, Liverpool are mounting a surge and Kuyt has played a key part in their revival.

The Dutchman has thrived on the responsibility of playing a prominent role in the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard and has weighed in with some key goals.

The January arrivals of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez have raised expectation and Kuyt feels the signs for the future are positive.

“Liverpool is a club that should be playing for trophies and I guarantee that will be happening soon,” he said. “With Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll arriving we have become stronger and I have a strong suspicion that the club will reinforce again in the summer.

“This helps my belief that we will be playing for trophies again next season. I want to stay because the club is showing ambition, the team is getting stronger and my family and I absolutely love it here.”

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The Premier League has confirmed it will oppose moves by the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) to reintroduce standing areas at top-flight matches.

Standing-only areas were removed on the recommendation of the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, but the FSF are calling for the return of terraces in the top two divisions for English football.

However, Premier League chief spokesman Dan Johnson said that the organisation will not be backing to the proposals.

“Our view is that the benefits of all-seater stadia far outweigh the return of standing areas,” Johnson said. “They have led to more women and more children attending the games and no matter how safe standing can be made, seating is always safer. We will not be encouraging the Government to change the law.”

The FA echoed the Premier League’s, with a spokesman telling ESPNsoccernet: “The FA does not support the introduction of safe-standing at football grounds in the top two divisions.

“Since the Taylor Report and the introduction of all-seater stadia crowd management and the supporter experience has improved significantly. In matters of safety and security we consider the advice of the police and the licensing authorities to be paramount and they remain clear on this issue.”

Representatives from the police, government and football authorities met with the FSF on Monday in a bid to kick-start their campaign, with the organisation’s chairman Malcolm Clarke claiming that many fans choose to stand despite having a seat.

“Fans do believe they have lost something in the move to all-seating,” Clarke told The Guardian. “We will be doing further research to respond to the concerns of those who are not yet convinced.”

The ‘Safe Standing’ camapign has been bubbling under the surface for some time, but the Premier League’s planned opposition will come as a blow, just as the FSF was planning to step up its lobbying of the Government for a change in the law.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson admitted the law was unlikely to change because the risk of a major incident would be too high, saying: “The minister’s head would be on a spike on Tower Bridge before he could draft a resignation letter.”

Liverpool’s involvement in the Heysel and Hillsborough tragedies would appear to make them likely opponents of the reintroduction of standing areas, but former Reds striker David Fairclough feels that as long as the safety of fans is guranteed, the FSF’s proposals could be implemented.

“In a controlled environment, plenty of countries around Europe have shown it can work,” Fairclough told ESPNsoccernet. “Even in the Premier League, you find that fans who buy tickets for sit-down areas will still stand for the whole of the game.

“I went to West Ham away recently with Liverpool and everyone was standing up; as long as the barriers are secure I think there is scope to reintroduce some standing areas, though it couldn’t work like the Kop used to be, with seas of open terraces.

“More standing room should also see a reduction in ticket prices, which can only be a good thing for the fans.”

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Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech has revealed that Arsenal passed up the chance to sign him in 2002, suggesting the Gunners felt he was not good enough for life in the Premier League.

Cech, 28, has become one of the finest keepers in world football during his seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge, but he could have been plying his trade in north rather than west London had things panned out differently.

The Czech Republic international was watched by Arsenal’s scouts while he was at Sparta Prague but they were put off by him not qualifying for a work permit and he ended up heading to French side Rennes.

The work permit may have been a stumbling block, but Cech has suggested Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was informed by his scouting network that the keeper was not good enough.

“Before I went to Rennes I was watched by Arsenal but when I couldn’t get a work permit the situation was missed,” Cech is quoted as saying in The Sun.

“And at the last minute I think the person who was the chief scout at Arsenal didn’t think I was good enough for the English league. So in the end it didn’t happen.”

Chelsea have put themselves back in the title race with a strong run of form and Cech is looking for the Blues to continue the forward momentum.

“We’re more secure at the back and we still have the opportunity to catch Manchester United if they start dropping points,” he said. “We are still dependent on all the others. But we have to win, win, win, keep the pressure on.

“What is essential for a club like Chelsea is to have the stature of a club playing in the Champions League next season.

“We have some big games coming up and there are teams around us who are battling for it as well.”

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