Barcelona hail Rivaldo

Around the World

Spain

Rivaldo was yesterday enjoying the acclaim of Barcelona fans after his extraordinary hat-trick on Sunday night secured a place in the Champions' League qualifying rounds.

With a minute to play in the Nou Camp in Barça's final Spanish League game of the season, Valencia were hanging on to a point which would have taken them back into Europe's premier club competition at the expense of the home club. Two strikes from the Brazilian international had been countered by headers from Ruben Baraja.

Then Rivaldo seized his moment to score a dramatic winner that will never be forgotten in Catalunya. With his back to goal, he took off and smashed a perfect overhead kick into the top corner. It gave Barcelona a 3-2 victory and condemned their opponents, European Cup finalists this year and last, to the Uefa Cup.

Rivaldo's Barcelona team-mate Frank de Boer was banned for a year by Uefa, European football's ruling body, for testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. He has, however, vowed to prove his innocence ­ and intends to use his twin brother to help.

Ronald de Boer, of Rangers, is to undergo tests with the aim of proving that certain sportsmen produce naturally high levels of nandrolone.

Italy

The Italian Football Federation has fined Roma and Juventus 20m lire (£6,340) each following the pitch invasions that saw the Serie A season end in turmoil on Sunday. With Roma beating Parma 3-1 with five minutes to go in a game they needed to win to secure the title, home fansspilled on to the pitch in premature celebrations. The match was concluded after a delay of about 15 minutes.

Trinidad

The former Chelsea manager Ian Porterfield seems about to lose his job as coach of Trinidad and Tobago, after a 4-2 home defeat to Honduras in Port-of-Spain on Saturday effectively brought to an end hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup finals.

"Mark my words, major changes are coming," said Jack Warner, an adviser to the Trinidad and Tobago Federation.