Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski admits confidence is returning to the defending Bundesliga champions after coach Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked last month.

Ex-Germany boss Klinsmann was axed on April 27 with five games remaining after his side were beaten 1-0 by Schalke 04 to leave them third in the league table while Jupp Heynckes took over as caretaker coach.

While a replacement is sought for Klinsmann, Bayern have moved up to second in the table and level with leaders Wolfsburg with two games remaining as Podolski, 23, has scored two goals in his last two games.

Bayern picked up their 19th league win of the season on Tuesday night in the 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen and Munich are on course to retain their crown if they can win their last two games as Podolski says the improvement is obvious.

“We?ve come on well as a team in the last few games,” said Podolski, who will leave Bayern at the end of the season to play for Cologne having spent most of the last two seasons on the bench.

“We?re well-organised, training is good, and you can see the results out on the park.

“Jupp Heynckes has restored my belief, I?m confident about starting matches, and I think I?ve repaid his faith when I?ve played,” added Podolski voted the best young player at the last World Cup.

And having taken over from Michael Rensing between the posts, Bayern’s former Leverkusen goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt says his experience in Munich has been an eye-opener where success is both expected and demanded.

“There?s a completely different mindset here at Bayern,” said the former Leverkusen goalkeeper who has three caps for Germany.

“The entire club is geared towards success, trophies are all that count here.

“You?re expected to win the league and every match, you?re not allowed slip-ups.

“In Leverkusen we often looked good and played brilliantly against big-name opponents, but we ran into trouble and lost to the smaller clubs.”

With two games left, Bayern have a tough run in with a trip to Hoffenheim on Saturday before the final game of the season on May 23 against title rivals at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Wolfsburg are at mid-table sides Hanover and Werder Bremen for their remaining games and remain top by virtue of a two-point goal difference, while third-placed Hertha are at home to Schalke 04 and bottom side Karlsruhe.

European football’s governing body UEFA on Wednesday confirmed four venues in Poland to stage games in the Euro 2012, but only accepted Kiev in co-hosts Ukraine.

Three other venues in Ukraine were given until November 30 to provide assurances they were capable of properly hosting games.

As expected the four Polish sites chosen by the UEFA Executive Board were Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk.

The three venues in Ukraine still to provide guarentees over their suitability are Lviv, Donetsk and Karkov.

Poland and Ukraine were suprisingly named as co-hosts for European football’s showcase tournament in April, 2007 but there have been growing organisational concerns, particularly surrounding Ukraine, since then.

Steven Gerrard’s leadership of Liverpool’s most sustained title challenge in years has won him the Football Writers’ Association (FWA)’s player of the year award for the first time.

The Reds captain saw off challenges from Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand to secure top spot in a poll of FWA members.

The 28-year-old has spent most of this season playing as a second striker, forging an exhilarating partnership with Fernando Torres. He has scored 23 goals in all competitions and become the club’s record scorer in European competition.

“We are delighted to honour Steven’s contribution this season with our prestigious award,” said FWA chairman Steve Bates.

“Steven has had a fantastic season and has so often been the driving force behind Liverpool’s forceful challenge for the Premier League title.

“Steven is viewed by the football writers who voted as the heartbeat of Liverpool’s team and a player who gives everything for the cause.”

Gerrard, who will receive his award at a dinner in London on May 29, succeeds Cristiano Ronaldo, who was honoured by the FWA in both 2007 and 2008.

The accolade means Gerrard joins a list of illustrious past winners that includes Sir Stanley Matthews, the first winner of the award in 1948, Sir Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore, George Best, Jurgen Klinsmann, Eric Cantona and Thierry Henry.

Liverpool’s talisman also joins an even more exclusive club of players to have won both the writers’ award and the Professional Footballers Association (PFA)’s player of the year award, which he collected in 2005-06.

This year’s player’s award was won by Giggs, who was recognised for his achievements over a long and exemplary career as much as his performances this season.

Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed bin Hammam began his new four-year term as a FIFA executive committee member this week keen to mend fences with his most ardent critics.

But, as the dust settles on one of the most bitter election campaigns seen in football, he insists he will never change his controversial style of leadership.

So disillusioned were almost half of the AFC’s 46 member nations in the way the Qatari runs the regional football body that they voted against him last Friday at their congress in a key show of dissent.

They said he was a dictator, that there was no transparency in what he was doing and argued that local football associations were not getting enough money.

At the forefront of the criticism were two powerful and influential men — FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-Joon and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad Al Sabah.

Despite vicious personal attacks on him, Bin Hammam is keen to forgive and forget, conscious that if he doesn’t repair the relationships the battle for power will start again ahead of the next congress in two years.

Then, his presidency will be at stake.

“I have no problems with the remarks Chung made,” he said, referring to the Hyundai scion publicly declaring Bin Hammam had mental problems and ran the AFC like a criminal.

“Chung is one of the people who I would like to restart relations with for the good of Asia,” he added.

Sheikh Ahmad, who also heads the Kuwait Football Association, stepped up his rhetoric after the Qatari accused him and the OCA of vote-buying.

AFC Chief Bin Hammam Keen To Mend Fences … read more »

Jenson Button continued his dominance in F1 with his fourth win in five races at the Spanish Grand Prix.

This was the ninth successive year that a driver has won from pole position at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, but it was no conventional procession from start to finish for Button.

After being passed by Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello on the run down to the first corner, Button and his team made the call to run from three stops to two early on.

It proved decisive as the 29-year-old did enough when Barrichello made his three trips into the pits to again take the chequered flag at the end of the 66 laps.

Yet despite standing on the top step of the podium for the fourth time this year, Button’s lead is only 14 points over Barrichello, who duly claimed second ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber.

The start to the race was marred by a four-car accident, bringing a swift end for Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella in his Force India, and the Toro Rosso duo of Sebastiens Bourdais and Buemi.

Williams’ Nico Rosberg was the instigator as it was he who gently nudged Trulli off the circuit coming out of the opening chicane.

After running onto the gravel, it was evident Trulli had little traction as he made his way back onto the track as he slid into the on-rushing traffic.

Unable to take evasive action, Fisichella rammed into the side of Trulli, sending both shattered cars careering onto the gravel.

It was remarkable that as passengers at that point they failed to collect any of their rivals because the Bourdais/Buemi encounter was a separate affair.

Driving into the back of young Swiss Buemi, Frenchman Bourdais was temporarily launched into the air, running over the top of the 20-year-old, yet remarkably no driver was hurt.

With debris strewn across the track, world champion Lewis Hamilton was fortunate not to sustain damage, in particular to his tyres.

Button Victorious in Spain … read more »