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Page 22 The British Weekly, Sat. April 11, 2015Football/CricketBritish WeeklySportIt’s a good time to face ourrivals, claims Kompanyn City skipper upbeat, despite poor run ofresults that sees team slump to fourthVincent Kompany saysit is a good time forManchester City to playlocal rivals United,despite beingovertaken by Louis vanGaal’s side in the table.City’s recent record ofthree defeats in fivegames, coupled withUnited’s five successivewins, has seen thechampions slip fromsecond to fourth.Before Sunday’smeeting, the Cityskipper said: “It’s agood moment to go intoa derby.“It’s the perfect place forus to go and try torectify what we’ve had.”He added: “A derby isa derby. It doesn’t matterwhat place you are inthe league, it’s a derby.”Following Monday’s2-1 defeat at CrystalPalace, ManuelPellegrini’s side arefourth, a point behindUnited and two pointsbehind second-placedArsenal. Before theweekend, City had beensecond.They are now 66-1 forthe title, with the gap toleaders Chelsea, whohave a game in handover their rivals, nownine points.Despite the hugesetback to their hopes ofretaining the title,Kompany said it wasimportant for City to get“I think it’s our general form that we have toimprove - vincent Kompanyback on to the winningtrail.“My only concern iswe get back to our bestform,” he said.“I think it’s ourgeneral form that wehave to improve. I’velearnt from the pastseasons as well thatfinishing a seasonstrongly can have animpact on your nextseason as well.”Former ManchesterCity goalkeeper JoeCorrigan believes someplayers in the City squadare not fully committedto the cause.“A manager can tellthe team what he wantson pitch, but it’s theplayers who go out andit’s their pride at stake,”he told BBC Radio 5 live.“Not all players, butthere doesn’t seem to bethe passion to go out andwin.”And City’s poor finishto the season hasprompted one leadingpundit to predictmanager ManuelPelligrini will be fired atthe end of the season."I think Pellegrini'stime will be up," saidformer Wales midfielderRobbie Savage on BBC’s5 Live.Fifa rankings: Wales rise 15places to highest level of 22ndWales have reached theirhighest-ever worldranking after climbing to22nd in the lateststandings released byworld governing bodyFifa.Chris Coleman’s sidehave risen 15 placesthanks to their unbeatenstart to their Euro 2016qualifying campaign.Scotland are up 10places to 29th andEngland - the highestranked of the homenations - are up three to14th, with NorthernFormer Australiacaptain and legendarycricket commentatorRichie Benaud has diedat the age of 84.A pioneering leg-spinbowler, Benaud playedin 63 Tests, 28 as captain,before retiring in 1964 topursue a career injournalism andbroadcasting.His final commentaryin England came duringthe 2005 Ashes series buthe continued to work forChannel Nine inAustralia until 2013.In November, herevealed he was beingtreated for skin cancer.Benaud took 945wickets in 259 first-classmatches and made11,719 first-class runs,scoring 23 centuries atan average of 36.50.He was the first manto achieve 2,000 runs andIreland up one to 42nd.Wales’ Euro 2016qualification rivalsBelgium are up to abest-ever third.Wales topped Group Bafter beating Israel 3-0 inMarch but are nowsecond on goal differencebehind Belgium, whothey face at home in June.Wales’ previous bestranking was 27th, whenTerry Yorath’s Wales sidejust failed to reach the1994 World Cup, but inMarch 2011 they were aslow as 116th.200 wickets at Test level.He was also a highlyregarded tactician andnever lost a Test series asAustralia captain,winning five anddrawing two.After such animpressive playingcareer, he became evenbetter known as aprolific author,columnist andcommentator on cricket.Following the 1956Ashes tour in England,he completed a BBCtraining course whilestill a player, markingthe beginning of 40-yearassociation with thecorporation.His first BBC radiocommentary came in1960, followed by hisfirst televisionappearance three yearslater.With his mellifluous,“It’s a fantasticachievement and if it’sthe highest ever then itshows we’re doingsomething right,” saidWales full-back ChrisGunter.“Chris Coleman saidlast week that we’ve lostone game in 18 months sowe probably deserve tobe there and we’re on agood run.“But as high as we arein the rankings, we wantto make sure that comenext October we’re wherewe want to be.”Cricket legend Benaud dead at 84light delivery,enthusiastically imitatedby comedians andcricket fans alike,Benaud also became thelead commentator onAustralian television’sChannel Nine from 1977.At the age of 83, hecrushed two vertebraewhen his 1963 Sunbeamvintage sports car hit abrick wall near to hisCoogee home in Sydney.Benaud often spoke ofa return to commentary,but, to the great sadnessof his legions ofadmirers, it did notmaterialise.Benaud, who wasmade an Officer of theOrder of the BritishEmpire in 1961 forservices to cricket, leavesa wife of 48 years,Daphne, and twochildren from his firstmarriage.Sherwood insists: I was a success at SpursTim Sherwood hasinsisted his time atTottenham was a successas he looks forward to hisfirst return to the clubsince his sacking in May.The 46-year-old, whotakes his Aston Villa sideto White Hart Lane onSaturday, was dismissedby Spurs two days afterleading them to asixth-place finish lastseason.“I knew it would be atough job at Tottenhamand it proved that,” hesaid.“But I was verysuccessful, both as adevelopment coach and asa manager.”Sherwood took over atSpurs in December 2013,after a period running theunder-21 side, and wenton to record a 59%top-flight win record, thebest of any Tottenham bossin Premier League history.His replacement,M a u r i c i oPochettino, added fiveplayers to the squad in thesummer, at a reported costof around £35m, but Spursare currently in the sameposition they finished lastseason.