Soccer

Liverpool's Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva has signed a new
long-term deal at the club.
The 24-year-old, signed from Gremio for £5m in 2007, has been rewarded
for his impressive displays this season.
Lucas has taken on more responsibility since the departures of Xabi
Alonso and Javier Mascherano and played his 100th league game for the
Reds in February.
Boss Kenny Dalglish said: "Since I came in he has been a great asset
to the team and has done tremendously well."
Much-maligned by fans in the early part of his career on Merseyside,
Lucas has become Liverpool's first choice holding midfielder, sitting
in front of the back four and allowing the likes of Steven Gerrard and
Raul Meireles to burst forward.
He has played 40 times for the club this season and started for Brazil
against Scotland at the Emirates on Sunday.

"He is a smashing lad to have around the football club but he hasn't
been signed for that, he has been signed because of what he does on
the pitch," added Dalglish.
"He's happy to be here and play for the club and he's getting
everything that he deserves at the moment - including being a fixture
in the Brazilian team - because of what he's done on the pitch."
Director of football Damien Comolli conducted the contract
negotiations, revealing holding on to Lucas was a priority for him
when he joined the club in November.
"One of the first things I did after I arrived was to look at the
contract situation and to see where Lucas was at," said the Frenchman.
"I knew we had to do something quickly because we couldn't afford to
lose him and didn't want to lose him.
"He could have gone to many clubs because he is highly rated around
Europe, but he always said he wanted to play for Liverpool."
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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard hopes to be fit to return to action
against West Brom on Saturday after being out since the start of
March.
Gerrard has missed three games since undergoing surgery on a groin
injuury sustained in the 3-1 win over Manchester United on 6 March.
"I'm hoping to be in full training on Thursday and available for
selection for the weekend," he said.
"It's up to Kenny [Dalglish] whether he thinks I'm ready or not."
Liverpool are sixth in the Premier League table, four points behind
Tottenham, who have a game in hand, but Gerrard believes they can
still snatch a European place next season, with Dalglish's
inspirational qualities being a significant factor.
"Our league form since Kenny came in is the best in the league so it's
really positive," Gerrard told talkSPORT.
"He is a players' manager. Players like playing for him because he
talks to them, he's honest with them.
"We're hoping Kenny can bring the glory days back. We know there's a
lot of hard work to do yet but there has been an improvement.
"We're just going to try to win the rest of our games and try to
finish as high as we can.
"The aim for us is to try to sneak back into Europe come the end of
the season."
Gerrard also said the Reds' new-look front pairing of Andy Carroll and
Luis Suarez could prove decisive.
"We believe now that we've got the most feared strikeforce in the
league," he said.
"One thing that's important to remember with Andy is that he's superb
on the floor.
"If we are in a difficult game or we are chasing a game we can be more
direct but the good thing is, because we can mix it up, we can play
either way now.
"We can play in behind, we can play long and with Suarez running off
him. It gives us a whole new dimension."