The 23-year-old hails from a village in the Rift Valley, the traditional breeding ground for the seemingly endless stream of Kenyan distance runners who have enjoyed such success in distances from 800 meters to the marathon.

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Many believe the catalyst for the rift between Ferguson and Van Nistelrooy was a reported training ground bust-up between the player and team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.

BBC: Ruud van Nistelrooy

How far (if at all) there is now a rift between Salahuddin and the Pakistan-based leadership and Dar and his commanders on the ground is difficult to gauge.

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