David Beckham looks set to miss out on the 2010 World Cup after tearing his Achilles tendon playing in A.C. Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo in Serie A today. The England international pulled up in the 87th minute at San Siro today and hobbled off, claiming he heard his tendon snap and felt his calf muscles spasm. He was carried off on a stretcher, with the nightmare of missing the World Cup unfolding before his eyes. Recovery from an Achilles rupture to being able to run is from 6-8 weeks following the operation Beckham will have tomorrow, but the proximity of the finals in under three months means a call-up of an unfit Beckham for the World Cup is now extremely unlikely. The most probable scenario is of Beckham missing the World Cup but making a return to MLS later this season. The will-he, won't-he saga of Beckham's once unlikely journey to a fourth finals had looked set to end happily with a place in Fabio Capello's final squad, but his road to South Africa now seems to have finally run out of gas. His attempt to break Peter Shilton's England appearances record also looks to have bitten the dust, ten games short. Perhaps the most celebrity of England footballers has even played his last game for the Three Lions. Becks' World Cup debut age 23 in France '98 was a colourful one - after initially having been dropped in favour of Teddy Sheringham, the young Manchester United star played a leading role in England's campaign, supplying the pass for Michael Owen's wonder goal against Argentina before getting himself sent off for retaliating against Diego Simeone. Beckham's expulsion forced England into a rearguard action for the rest of the second-round clash, lost eventually on penalties and coach Glenn Hoddle blamed him afterwards for the defeat. Four years later and Beckham, recovered from the tsunami of tabloid opprobrium following France '98, arrived in Japan a soccer idol, especially in the Far East. But a broken metatarsal shortly before the finals meant the England captain was not in peak condition. He got his revenge on Argentina with a winning penalty, but Brazil's silky skills got the better of a prosaic and unimaginative England in the quarter-finals. Beckham scored the winner in the second round of Germany 2006, a set piece against Ecuador , but his third World Cup finals ended again at the last eight stage, as Portugal beat another solid but uninspiring Three Lions team forged by Sven-Goran Eriksson, this time on spot-kicks. Tearfully resigning as captain , it looked like the World Cup had seen the last of Becks as he jetted off for the sunny climbs of Los Angeles and Major League Soccer. Steve McClaren's first act as England manager was to telephone him to say farewell but before long McClaren's obvious frailty in the job saw Beckham back from the dead in the national team fold. Now shorn of what little speed he once had, Beckham concentrated on his dead ball delivery and arching crosses, providing a unique attacking option from the right wing. Becks' prowess as an impact substitute with his penetrative deliveries ensured continuous call-ups under Capello, his former coach at Real Madrid and at the age of 34 looked set to have a final World Cup swansong, if not a starting role. His tears as he left the San Siro field today were as intense as when he left the field against Portugal, both times believing he had played his last World Cup game. This time, it looks like he has. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags Soccer News football

Why MLS' fine on its star is a real own goal

World soccer news For week of 04/18 Ferguson labels Benitez as "arrogant" and "contemptuous" War of words has intensified between Sir Alex Ferguson and Don Rafael Benitez in view of the decisive month in the Premier League The master of the psychological warfare, Ferguson has launched a furious attack at Liverpool's coach hoping it will destabilize the Spaniard further after a heroic, but ultimately futile battle at Stamford Bridge in midweek Manchester United manager accused Benitez of arrogance and contempt toward other Premier League managers, illustrating his claims with the way the Spaniard once qualified Everton and his dismissive attitude during a game against Blackburn

Off-field, it was such a colourful week, England's 0-2 defeat to Spain , Fabio Capello's first as national team manager, was a mere footnote. Chelsea's firing of Luis Felipe Scolari and the tug-of-love for David Beckham between LA and AC were bigger news, but the Three Lions' defeat deserved more column inches. Unlike Steve McClaren, Capello has built a formidable team in a short time, a 4-1 away win in Croatia being the highlight so far, and unlike predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson, in friendlies the Italian plays his strongest team for as much of the 90 minutes as he can. Seville was a reality check therefore on the perennially fantasizing English, many of whom are already entertaining hopes of lifting the World Cup in South Africa. Spain's technique was superior as always, but their organisation was too, while their formation had a fluidity England can only dream about. I cannot see how England, however improved they are under Capello, can defeat Spain in a couple of years without a big dollop of luck. It is impossible for England to develop a comparable mobility to give them that extra gear. The Three Lions can probably match anyone else in Europe, but there is also Brazil and Argentina to consider. Of course, myriad factors are brought to bear in a World Cup Finals, and it is a cup competition, with all that that entails. But on paper, England cannot triumph in 2010. *** England's biggest star and still the world's best-paid player, has unexpectedly become a tug-of-love case. David Beckham is owned by MLS but wanted by AC Milan. Clearly his American dream is a bust now he has re-established himself in the national team, an adventure he believed he had reached the end of in 2006. But having signed the deal of the century in Los Angeles, Becks belongs to the Galaxy, for now. So what we have is a football v business battle of ethics, not unlike Kaka's absurd dalliance with Manchester City. If football has values, Beckham must stay in Milan, full stop. But since the sport has got so deep into bed with the many-tentacled commercial world, Becks' attempts to extricate himself are proving painful. MLS had him as the cornerstone of their expansion plans and are now feeling jilted at the altar. "They clearly were looking at this as a football decision and we were looking at it as a football and business decision," Tim Leiweke, LA Chief Executive said. "I'm not sure they ever quite understood the magnitude of the losses the Galaxy and the league would have had to bear this season." But Beckham must part with his US team. To spurn or endanger the chance of playing in his last World Cup would be a disgrace and MLS must realise it is always better to move on an unhappy player, even if he is the world's most important one, before his moodiness affects the squad as a whole. *** At home, Chelsea fired their third coach in three years, despite still being in the Champions League, FA Cup and Champions League qualifying places. Scolari was given no money to spend in the January transfer window either, which makes Roman Abramovich's decision seem doubly cruel. The Russian has so far poured over £700m of his fortune into the West London club but this week the Blues also posted an annual loss of £66million, to add to the previous years' deficits of £75m, £140m and £88m. Abramovich has lost at least £12 billion in the last few months' economic slump, and on his fourth Chelsea manager in three years, one can only chuckle at Chief Executive Bruce Buck's description of his boss, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2006: "He has a very good business sense, a very good feel for people." (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Now Euro 2008 is in full swing, spare a thought for those not invited to the party. 36 European nations failed to make it to the Alps. England might stand out among them, but also missing is 2006 World Cup quarter-finalists Ukraine, plus nations of th e calibre of Belgium, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway and Ireland. \ England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland really should have revived the British Championship this summer and for extra spice added the Republic of Ireland and as a wild card, Gibraltar. A friendly with Gibraltar from any of the four UK nations with an empty diary this month would be a nice affirmation of the peninsula's desires to stay British. The Rock is not affiliated to UEFA, thanks to Spain's filibustering, so like an ugly girl or boy, they are desperate for any date. Given that it is customary to play a reciprocal fixture at your visitors' stadium after inviting them to yours, England could easily drop by for 90 minutes, though the apes would probably nick the half-time oranges. England are on the quayside looking on again but looking tasty too after dispatching the USA 2-0 at Wembley last week. David Beckham is clearly a new man and seemed to be glowing post-match having seen off the challenge of his young pretender David Bentley, with a top-drawer 45 minutes. That Becks could figure in a fourth World Cup finals seemed impossible when he gave his tearful resignation speech in Germany 2006, but now the prospect grows ever likelier. England finally have found a rhythm under Fabio Capello and on that performance, could surely have made more of an impression at Euro 2008 than some of the qualifiers and 'qualifers' (host nations). 2010 now beckons for England fans hopeful of a renewed assault on the big prize. The USA took more of a psychological blow than anything from Wembley. Having lost by the same score 14 years ago at the same venue, the States were looking to prove progress had been made. In the meantime the States have achieved a World Cup quarter-final finish in 2002, have won three of the last four CONCACAF Gold Cups and enjoyed recent away wins over Euro 2008 qualifiers Poland and Switzerland. Barring an almighty catastrophe, the US will be in the World Cup finals forever more, given CONCACAF, one of FIFA's weaker regions, with coincidentally two large TV markets, is handed a generous three and a half places for the finals. But the US is most eager to impress against European nations like England, which makes Wembley's 2-0 defeat all the more depressing. "We're Americans, we want to be the best at everything," said winger DaMarcus Beasley post-game, and he meant it. The Republic of Ireland and Colombia squared up at Fulham a day later in front of a passionate and colourful 18,000 crowd. Both nations have been off the world radar for the past few years. Ireland did reach the second round of the 2002 World Cup where they lost on penalties to Spain, but their campaign was wounded by Roy Keane's furious outburst and exiling from the camp. While the Jack Charlton years were always going to be a one-off era, Giovanni Trapattoni looks to have what it takes make Ireland a regular qualifier for tournaments once again. Trap, a coach of enormous experience, belied his white hair and 66 years, by whistling as loudly as ever to his players (they nickname him 'il fischio' - the whistle, in his native Italy) and gesticulating manically as only he can on the touchline. Post-game, Trap had the enthusiasm of a teenager for the game, speaking as if he was in his first job and certainly in no mood for retirement. He mentioned Greece's unforeseen Euro 2004 win as his inspiration, explaining it thus; "If you are a pianist, you play the piano, if you are a singer, you sing, so I say to my players, 'What are we? We are a team." Eire played a solid, and almost Italian defensive game against Colombia, grabbing an early goal through Robbie Keane and then defending it against an increasingly rampant opponent. But it was no catenaccio night. Ireland showed impressive teamwork and a fluid organisation sadly lacking under previous incumbents Steve Staunton and Brian Kerr. Colombia look to be on the up too after defeating Argentina and drawing with Brazil in their 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Having not qualified for the past two finals, Los Cafeteros seem to be set fair to retake the place behind South America's big two which in the early 1990s seemed would be theirs for some time. Unbelievably, Colombia only entered World Cup qualifying in 1958 but made it to the finals in Chile four years later. Their next appearance in 1990, saw them draw 1-1 with eventual winners Germany in the group stage, a curious game in which captain Carlos Valderrama, the first Colombian ever to play in Europe, appeared to feign injury and be stretchered off before quickly r ecovering during the first half before his team left the soon-to-be world champions chasing shadows with some amazing passing football. Colombia seemed to be toying with the Germans, who then shocked them by taking the lead in the 89th through Pierre Littbarski, sending Colombia towards elimination. Freddy Rincon saved their bacon by nutmegging Bodo Illgner in injury time. Crazy goalkeeper Rene Higuita, he of the scorpion kick, monkeyed around against Cameroon in the next round and was dispossessed a good 40 yards out of his goal by Roger Milla, who went on and scored and sent Colombia home. Colombia hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in 1994 when they lost 2-1 to the USA in a game many have fingered as being fixed by drug baron Pablo Escobar and friends. His namesake Andres Escobar scored an own goal and was promptly murdered on his return to Colombia. Times have changed, Pablo Escobar is dead, the Medellin cartel and the FARC no longer hold sway, and the national team is undergoing renaissance too. Jorge Luis Pinto has fashioned a neat passing team with plenty of pace and technique, although against Ireland they showed the classic shortcoming all great passing teams suffer from, the lack of a powerful striker. Euro 2008 might be underway, but those not at the party still have the future to dream about. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

World Soccer News for week of 03/23 Slaven Bilic vows to keep coaching Croatia The Croatian coach Slaven Bilic has said he will stay on the national team's bench beyond the European Championship in spite of a sweet offer from Germany's Hamburger SV. Bilic said that at a press conference putting an end to speculations caused by the Croatian FA's inertia. The FA inexplicably hesitated to renew the supremely popular coach after the momentous win at Wembley last November, fuelling the nation's concern Bilic could go to accept a financially more profitable offer abroad. "I'll stay as Croatia's coach. Salary doesn't matter to me. Let them give me a bianco contract and I'm going to sign it," said the former West Ham and Everton defender. "I do want to work in a club, but it will not be before 2010," added Bilic. What the fans think of FA's slowness to tie the coach for at least two more years has been reflected in a poll conducted by Vecernji list dails. No less than 77% of the voters believe the FA's president Vlatko Markovic should quit if Bilic goes. Record ban for a Chilean coach Marcelo Vega, former coach to the youth team of Chile's Santiago Morning was hit by a record 50 games ban for assaulting a referee. The former international was found guilty by the FA for knocking out the ref at the game between his team and Universidad de Chile on March 8th. This is the heaviest ban ever imposed in the history of the Chilean soccer. Club's vicepresident Luis Faundez called upon Vega to "leave the club in order not to cause more damage." The 37-year-old coach collected 30 caps and one goal in the national team between 1991 and 1998 playing as a midfielder. Capello recalls Beckham for France friendly David Beckham will finally get his chance of making the 100th appearance for England as Fabio Capello showed him mercy after several months of uncertainty. Capello, who was at odds with Becks during their spell at Real Madrid, had said he had left out the former captain for the Switzerland game due to his lack of fitness. Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson has also won his return to the national side instead of the injured Scott Carson, Liverpool's keeper on loan to Aston Villa. On the other hand, other two in-form Spurs' players, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe, have been left out by the Italian coach, traditionally determined to keep the public guessing about his moves and motives. Donadoni's future at Italy uncertain Roberto Donadoni has not reached a new deal with the Italian FA, whose leaders say they will not consider extending his contract before the end of the European championship. "The issue will be dealt with when the current coach's contract expires on July 18th," said FA's chairman Giancarlo Abate. The man growing increasingly linked to the spot is Carlo Ancelotti, whose era at AC Milan is inexorably reaching the finale. Ancelotti has admitted he is interested in coaching his country but not before 2010. "I believe Donadoni deserves to stay. He has worked well so far and I trust he will do well at the European championship and the next World Cup," said Ancelotti. Ever the fair player, Milan's coach does not want to make an impression of being too eager to replace Donadoni, his former teammate in club and the national team. Athletic's keeper has his head smashed by a Betis fan The Spanish FA has punished Betis with two home games behind closed doors and awarded their game against Athletic to the visitors, confirming the scoreline of 1-2 prevailing before an incident forced the referee to signal the end. With 23 minutes remaining, a 40-year-old Betis fan threw a full plastic bottle in Athletic's keeper Armando's face. The Bask goalie suffered a deep cut and an injury to the left eye, which doctors fear may lose its function due to the detachment of retina. The fans helped the guards and the police catch the perpetrator, who was arrested and released on 3000 euros bail. Betis hoped the FA would enable them to play the remaining 23 minutes of the game, but the authorities would not heed their pleas remembering last year's incident in which the former Sevilla's coach Juande Ramos was also hit with a bottle thrown from the stands. The perpetrator of that incident will likely be sentenced just to a hefty fine since Ramos was not seriously injured. The recent bottle-thrower may be looking at a prison sentence should Armando lose the sight on the injured eye. Francesco Totti prefers Champions League to scudetto If he could chose, Roma's captain Francesco Totti would rather win the Champions' League than the Italian league, since an European club trophy is what is missing from his trophy room. "To win a title would be special because it would mean overtaking Inter, but I would prefer the Champions League as I have never won a international trophy at the club level.Who knows, maybe it would also boost my chances of achieving the Golden Ball. Still, if the performance at the European Championship turns out to be decisive for the Golden Ball, then I will not win it because I'm not going back to the national team," said the forward who has not played for the Azzurri after the victorious World Cup in Germany. On Roma's path to the European title lies, lest we forget, Manchester United. Copyright Soccerphile & Ozren Podnar Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

"There are not many candidates because it looks a bit like a crocodile that opens the mouth and says: 'Jump into that.' Once he's in there, he's eaten. And once you have eaten four, five says: 'No, maybe I don't jump in there.'" So went the words of Arsene Wenger, the best coach working in England at present. In the old days, before the savaging of Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor by the tabloids and the realization that the real money and chances of success were to be found in the Premier League and not the international game, the nation’s best coach would have leapt at the chance of managing England.

The Emperor has no clothes and it’s official. For the first time within the walls of the awesome citadel that is the new Wembley Stadium, the English national team has come a cropper in a big way, and this time there can be no hiding from the naked truth.

The Beckhams--David and Victoria--have been in Los Angeles for barely two months, but their individual careers may never be the same. Mr. Beckham was injured this week as his Galaxy of the MLS fell in the first-ever SuperLiga final to Mexican club Pachuca. The SuperLiga features midweek, inter-league play between the top clubs in MLS and Mexican football. Beckham's injury--a knee ligament sprain--basically spells an end to his play for the regular MLS season and may see him miss two Euro 2008 qualifiers for England as well. In all honesty, the Bendy One does not seem happy in Los Angeles or MLS and this reporter would not be very surprised to see him end his career in red at Old Trafford one day very soon. He seems to have been born Cockney Red and so perhaps that's as it should be. It's likely that even the earlier transfer to Madrid was a mistake as well.

At the final whistle in the Home Depot Center last night, the Beckham bandwagon in America first began to lose its sheen. Only a few days ago it had all looked so rosy . Having impressed in the few weeks since he moved to the West Coast of America with LA Galaxy, pulling crowds of up to 66,000, Beckham last night appeared less than fit and less than happy as his sub-par team stumbled to a miserable 0-3 defeat to local rivals Chivas USA. The Galaxy is far from stellar - LA have won only three of their 17 games so far and have a goal difference of minus 7. Eight of the 13 clubs in MLS qualify for the end of season playoffs but it looks like Beckham's will not now be one of them after this thumping by their mid-table local rivals. The Galaxy have still to win away and boast the second to worst home record in the league.