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Soccer Capsules: Beckham to return to AC Milan in January
Comments 0 | Recommend 0MILAN — England midfielder David Beckham will return to AC Milan on loan in January after the Italian club reached an agreement with Los Angeles Galaxy on Monday.
Beckham played for Milan for six months from January 2009, scoring two goals in 18 matches in a successful bid to win his place back in England's national squad.
"I had to give myself the best chance to play in the World Cup and playing on loan with Milan will help me do that," Beckham told Milan's Web site. "I enjoyed my last experience in Milan a lot and I can't wait to meet the team and the staff again.
"I have to thank (Los Angeles owner) Tim Leiweke and (Los Angeles coach) Bruce Arena for having given me this opportunity. I remain close to Los Angeles Galaxy and Major League Soccer and I care about football's development in the United States.
"Now I am completely concentrated on finishing this season in the best way with my club by winning the MLS Cup."
Negotiations for Beckham to return had been ongoing between Milan and the Galaxy for a number of weeks.
"We are delighted to see David Beckham back in the red-and-black shirt after his splendid experience last season," AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said on the club's Web site.
"We are sure that this period in Europe will help him make it to the next World Cup, and after that his career with Los Angeles Galaxy. We must thank them for agreeing to this deal."
In March 2009 against Slovakia, during his time with Milan, Beckham became England's second most capped player when he broke Bobby Moore's record of 108 international appearances.
Currently, Beckham has played 115 internationals, with only former goalkeeper Peter Shilton ahead of him with 125.
It was England manager Fabio Capello who pushed Beckham to join a European club on loan in early 2009 to maintain his fitness during Major League Soccer's offseason.
Originally, it was scheduled to be a three-month agreement until the start of the MLS season. But such was his success that both Beckham and Milan sought to extend the loan period till the end of the European season.
Having helped Milan reach the Champions League, Beckham returned to the Galaxy to receive a hostile reaction from some supporters and criticism in print by teammate Landon Donovan.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder did little to smooth relations when he confronted some abusive fans after games.
Since then, Beckham has won over supporters by helping Los Angeles into the MLS playoffs for the first time since his arrival in the United States. He also patched up his differences with Donovan.
If the 34-year-old Beckham does make it to next year's tournament in South Africa, it will his fourth World Cup.
He was made the scapegoat for England's exit in the round of 16 at the 1998 tournament in France after being sent off before the penalty shootout loss to Argentina.
Four years later in Japan and South Korea, Beckham was recovering from a broken metatarsal and criticized for jumping out of a tackle just before Brazil equalized in England's quarterfinal loss.
In 2006 at Germany, Beckham finished the tournament in tears after injury meant he was unable to play a part in the latter stages of England's penalty shootout defeat to Portugal in the quarterfinals.
Donovan is MVP award finalist in MLS
NEW YORK — Landon Donovan is a finalist for Major League Soccer’s MVP award and Kasey Keller is up for three postseason honors.
Donovan, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder, FC Dallas’ Jeff Cunningham and New England’s Shalrie Joseph were the top three in voting by league players, general managers, coaches, referees and media.
Keller is up against the Galaxy’s Donovan Ricketts and Chivas USA’s Zach Thornton for top goalkeeper honors.
Keller, the most capped goalkeeper in United States national team history, and his Sounders were all over the list of finalists announced Monday by MLS. Keller is also up for the best newcomer and fair play awards, while coach Sigi Schmid and defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado are also award candidates.
The Sounders are definitely going to win at least one award: Freddie Ljungberg and Fredy Montero are the other top newcomer finalists.
Houston’s Pat Onstad and the Revolution’s Steve Ralston are Keller’s competition for the fair play award.
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena and the Crew’s Robert Warzycha are up against Schmid, while Hurtado’s competition is Houston’s Geoff Cameron and Columbus’ Chad Marshall.
The Chicago Fire’s Brian McBride, a former United States striker, is a finalist for comeback player of the year, along with Thornton and D.C. United’s Ben Olsen.
Toronto FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei, Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez and midfielder/forward Chris Pontius of D.C. United are up for rookie of the year.
Champions League
Barcelona, Liverpool feel Champions League heat
LONDON — Barcelona's hold on the European title could be loosened with another loss to Russia's Rubin Kazan this week, while five-time winner Liverpool would be closer to Champions League elimination if it loses again to Lyon.
Group qualification for the last 16 knockout stage passes halfway on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Manchester United, Chelsea, FC Porto, Sevilla, Lyon, Arsenal and Olympiakos on the verge of advancing with two games to spare.
But Barcelona, which lost 2-1 at home to Rubin Kazan two weeks ago in one of the biggest surprises in the competition's history, now travels to play the Russian club again in wintry conditions expected to fall to minus 10 Celsius.
After three rounds of games, Group F is the closest of the eight. Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and Rubin have four points each and Inter Milan — more than two wins clear in the Italian league — is last with three.
While Barcelona travels to Rubin, unbeaten Inter also has a long journey to Kiev aiming to end a run of three straight group draws.
The omens aren't good for Barca.
The defending champions go to Rubin after a 1-1 draw with Osasuna in the Spanish league and lost to the Russian side two weeks ago after a 0-0 draw with Valencia. Coach Pep Guardiola's team has won its other seven league games and is top of the Spanish standings but doesn't respond well to draws.
"They are upset, especially at not winning when they were so close. Now we have to go into the cold and win in Russia," Guardiola said after the draw with Osasuna in Pamplona.
"We lost two points right at the end, but that's part of the game. I'm disappointed with the result, but we played very well. We played a pretty complete game, we were in control and I'm happy with that. Now we have to pick ourselves up and prepare for the Champions League game."
Barcelona's position is nowhere near as bad as Liverpool's.
Two defeats in a row in Group E to Fiorentina and Lyon have left Liverpool third in the standings, six behind the French side and three behind the Italian club. Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Fulham was also its fifth in the Premier League.
Liverpool has lost six out of its last seven matches in all competitions but manager Rafa Benitez is convinced his team will turn its season around.
"We have confidence we can do it but we have to take our chances and not make mistakes like today," he said after Saturday's loss to Fulham, where Liverpool also had Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher sent off. "You have to be calm and keep working hard and find solutions."
Lyon comes off a 1-0 victory at St. Etienne and Fiorentina, which hosts last place Debrecen on Wednesday, beat Catania 3-1 in Sunday's Serie A games.
Victories for Lyon and Fiorentina would put the French team through. That would also mean that Liverpool will have to win its final two games, including a victory over Fiorentina by a three-goal margin, and hope that the Italian club doesn't pick up another point at home to Lyon.
After a thrilling 3-2 victory at Real Madrid, AC Milan is level on points with the Spanish club at the top of Group C ahead of their rematch at San Siro on Tuesday. Winner of a combined 16 European cup titles, they are three points ahead of Marseille and FC Zurich.
Runnerup to Barcelona last season and winner of its third European cup title in 2008, Manchester United has a maximum nine points from three Group B games and has a home match against CSKA Moscow (three points) on Tuesday. Another United triumph at Old Trafford would leave the other three clubs vying for one qualifying spot from the group. Second place German champion Wolfsburg goes to Turkey's Besiktas.
Group D leader Chelsea travels to last place Atletico Madrid on Tuesday on a run of four straight league and cup victories with a 17-0 goals aggregate.
The Blues are strengthened by the return of striker Didier Drogba from a three-game European ban for his outburst against a referee after last season's Champions League semifinal against Barcelona. The Ivorian striker's ninth goal of the season was the fourth of Chelsea's goals in a 4-0 victory at Bolton on Saturday to keep Carlo Ancelotti's team top of the Premier League.
"Having Didier back in the Champions League this week will be great for us," said Frank Lampard, who scored the first of the four goals. "It's a big boost, he's a top-class player in great form. Everyone would want him back and involved.
"Hopefully he can step straight into Europe and continue with his league form because he is scoring in every game now. He's neck and neck with Fernando Torres in the goals chart, but for me Didier is the best in the world because of his all-round game."
If Chelsea wins in Madrid and second place Porto triumphs at APOEL Nicosia, then the group will have been decided with two games to spare. Chelsea has nine points, Porto six and the other two have one each.
Group G leader Sevilla will qualify with a draw at home to third place VfB Stuttgart while Romania's Unirea hopes to move closer to the knockout phase in its debut season by beating Scottish champion Rangers at home.
Arsenal and Olympiakos would both qualify by winning their Group H games on Wednesday. The Gunners, fresh from domestic victories over Liverpool and Tottenham, host Dutch champion AZ Alkmaar and Olympiakos visits last place Standard Liege and victories will put them out of reach.
-- Robert Millward
Elsewhere
Officials say all fans welcome
GOLD COAST, Australia — The billionaire owner of Gold Coast United will drop his controversial crowd cap when A-League leader Sydney FC visits this weekend.
On Monday, Gold Coast United chairman and owner Clive Palmer, a mining magnate, and the Football Federation Australia reached agreement to remove the 5,000-spectator cap which the club imposed last weekend.
Just 2,616 fans watched North Queensland, led by the league's star recruit, ex-Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, beat Gold Coast United 2-0 last Saturday.
Palmer capped the attendance by closing off three sides of the stadium — avoiding costs he would have incurred if the crowd had surpassed 5,000 by opening only limited concession stands and scaling back traffic management and security requirements to save an estimated $100,000 in venue operational costs.
The move was condemned by infuriated fans who carried banners protesting the crowd limit. When Fowler came to the Gold Coast in the second round, more than 7,500 were in the stands to watch the home side outclass North Queensland 5-0.
Palmer ignored an FFA request last week not to restrict attendance for that match, but the two sides were able to reach agreement for Saturday's game against Sydney.
"Under the agreement, the cap on crowds is gone and all sections of Skilled Park will be open to the public," the FFA said in a statement. "In addition a new pricing structure will be released this week making the game more accessible to all people on the Gold Coast."
Gold Coast chief executive Clive Mensink said the club's supporters were noticeable by their absence last week.
"We have listened to the fans and the community and they have told us that they want the stadium opened up and there are some issues around pricing," said Mensink. "I have heard them loud and clear."
Montpellier chief summoned for homophobic slur
PARIS — Montpellier president Louis Nicollin has been summoned by the French Football Federation's ethics commission after he used a homophobic term to describe Auxerre midfielder Benoit Pedretti.
Nicollin, who could be suspended for up to two months, has apologized for his outburst after his team's 2-1 loss to Auxerre in the French league over the weekend.
He accused Pedretti of being responsible for the sending-off of Montpellier playmaker Alberto Costa and said that his players would "take care of him" when the two teams meet again in March.
Costa was red-carded in the 74th minute of Saturday's match following a rash tackle on the Auxerre captain.
On Monday, the ethics commission summoned Nicollin to appear on Nov. 16.
Several gay rights groups expressed outrage over Nicollin's comment and threatened to sue him.
"He called me Sunday afternoon to apologize," Pedretti was quoted as saying in Monday's edition of L'Equipe newspaper. "To me, the case is closed... We know that he is a straightforward man, he was on the edge when he said that."
Following two consecutive losses, Montpellier is fourth in the standings, five points behind leader Bordeaux.
Joahn Cruyff to coach Catalonia's football team
BARCELONA, Spain — The Catalan football federation says former Netherlands and Barcelona great Johan Cruyff will coach the Catalonia football team.
The federation said on its Web site Monday that the 62-year-old Dutchman would be presented next Monday.
Cruyff coached Barcelona from 1988-96 after several seasons at Ajax. The three-time European footballer of the year played five seasons in Barcelona in the 1970s and currently works as an adviser to the club.
Cruyff replaces Pere Gratacos, who led the regional side for six games played in the past three years.
Catalunya, like other Spanish regions such as the Basque Country, compete in friendlies against international teams but aren't permitted to play in official competitions.
Alves returns from injury, available for Barcelona
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona defender Daniel Alves has recovered from a leg injury and will be available to return for the team's Champions League match at Rubin Kazan.
Alves injured a muscle in his right thigh nearly two weeks ago at the end of Barcelona's 2-1 loss to the Russian champions. Barcelona initially expected Alves to be out three weeks.
The Spanish champions face Rubin on Wednesday.
Barcelona, Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev all have four points in Group F. Inter Milan is last with three points.
Totti expected to sign new contract
ROME — AS Roma captain Francesco Totti is expected to sign a five-year contract that will tie him to the Italian club until he retires.
Sports daily Corriere dello Sport reports that Totti has persuaded the club to include a clause that will allow him to become technical director of either the first team or the youth team when he retires.
Previously, the club's directors were reluctant to add the clause because they were concerned that there will be a different set of owners when Totti eventually retires.
Totti, who is still out of action with a knee injury, has set a provisional date of 2014 for his retirement.
England striker Wayne Rooney becomes a father
LIVERPOOL, England — England striker Wayne Rooney has become a father for the first time after his wife Coleen gave birth to a boy.
Kai Wayne Rooney was born Monday at a hospital in Liverpool.
Kai is an unusual choice in Britain, with it ranking 68th in the top 100 names compiled in 2008 by the Office for National Statistics.
In Welsh and Scottish, Kai means "keeper of the keys." In Hawaii, it means "the sea," while in Maori it translates as food.
The 23-year-old Coleen and Wayne, 24, have been together since they were teenagers.
Rooney may still miss Manchester United's Champions League match against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.
Eintracht's Amanatidis facing knee surgery
FRANKFURT — Eintracht Frankfurt striker Ioannis Amanatidis is facing a possible knee operation and will be out for an undetermined time.
The Greek international has a bruised knee that was operated on last year. He has hardly played this season due to various injuries.
Club chairman Heribert Bruchhagen said Monday that Amanatidis will be out for a "long time."
Also, defender Patrick Ochs has a cracked rib and will miss Friday's game at Bundesliga leader Bayer Leverkusen.
CSKA Sofia suspends 9 players for partying
SOFIA, Bulgaria — CSKA Sofia coach Lyuboslav Penev has suspended nine players after they were spotted at nightclubs, a violation of the Bulgarian team's disciplinary rules.
Penev's decision comes after his team lost its last two games, one against rival Litex Lovech 2-0 and another at home against Minyor Pernik 3-0.
The suspended players include Bulgaria internationals Ivan Karadzhov, Ivan Ivanov, Kiril Kotev and Yordan Todorov.
Penev did not specify the duration of the ban, but said Monday that all nine will be dropped from the squad for Thursday's Europa League game at FC Basel.
CSKA Sofia is at the bottom of Group E with one point from three matches. Basel leads the group, which includes also Fulham and AS Roma.
Riot police fire into air amid Lisbon fan trouble
LISBON, Portugal — Riot police fired warning shots into the air to hold off rock-throwing fans of the Portuguese soccer team Sporting Lisbon.
The violence followed the team’s fourth draw in nine games, leaving the club in seventh place in the Portuguese league. Sporting is one of Portugal’s three big clubs along with Porto and Benfica. It is off to its worst start in 18 years.
About 200 fans gathered outside Jose Alvalade Stadium on Sunday night after a 1-1 tie at home to Maritimo. Police stopped the fans from forcing their way into an area reserved for officials, coaching staff and players.
Authorities said the fans then threw stones and bottles at police, who responded with shotgun blasts into the air.
Former Argentina defender Caceres near death
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A player from Argentina’s 1994 World Cup team is near death with a bullet in his head after resisting a carjacking.
Ramon Carrillo Hospital says Fernando Caceres is in grave condition. He was shot in the head early Sunday after a group of carjackers tried to steal his BMW in the Argentine capital.
The 40-year-old former defender played on the Argentine team that was eliminated in the second round of the World Cup in the U.S.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona visited his former teammate Monday. Caceres also played for Spanish team Zaragoza and Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Boca Juniors and Independiente in Argentina.
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