Beckham for Milan

Italian club AC Milan have confirmed that former England captain David Beckham will join the club on loan during the January transferwindow. . Beckham, who plays for LA Galaxy, will join the seven-time European champions during the off-season break.Milan seem to have taken over from Real Madrid in opting for a policy of signing many players in recent seasons, except that whereas the Spanish champions signed the likes of Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Beckham when they were playing their very best. In the last two years Milan have signed Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Andrei Shevchenko and now Beckham, but all four players seem to be far from their best. Ronaldo seemed to be overweight and unfit during his brief and unsuccessful stint with AC Milan.

Golden ball favourites

Manchester United's ace winger Cristiano Ronaldo and FC Barcelona's forward Lionel messi are the most likely conntenders to win this year’s Golden Ball, awarded to Europe’s top player. Ronaldo finished second to AC Milan midfielder Kaka last year, while Messi was third. Kaka was again among the 30 nominees but looking at his performance there is slim chance he will win.The Portugese winger had scored 42 goals in all competitions to help United win the Premier League title and the Champions League last season.

Kenyon in Goa

Peter Kenyon,the chief executive officer of English side-chealseaKenyon arrived in Goa and was received by AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco whobelieved that the visit would hopefully help cement a relationship with the English Premier League giants. Colaco also said that there's no agenda involved but talks will be held on the overall development of the game in the country. The world's highest paid CEO's visit is aimed at understanding Indian football and to develop the relationship between Chelsea and the AIFF. Senior national team coach Bob Houghton, who cut short his visit to Kolkata to be in Goa for the meeting, met Kenyon along with AIFF officials and those from the Bharti Group to chart out a comprehensive development programme. Chelsea were the first major team to sign an agreement with the Asian Football Confederation as official football development partner of AFC's Vision China project.

Injury list increases

English side,Arsenal have defensive problems for their Champions League match against Fenerbahce to worry about as central defender Kolo Toure has been declared unfit with a minor shoulder injury.Toure joins fellow central defender William Gallas who is out with a hamstring injury and right back Bacary Sagna who isout with a knee injury on the unavailable list for their Group G match in Istanbul . On a Better note,the Gunners forward ,Nicklas Bendtner and defender Johan Djourou are both fit for the outing. They both missed their teams recent Premier League win over Everton. Bendtner has recovered from an ankle injury while defender Djourou has been given the all-clear after suffering a major concussion during while representing Switzerland.

Training camp for I-league coaches

Finally,in an effort to bring in some professionalism into Indian football, the Asian Football Confederation has invited 10 I-League club managersto its general manager seminar which is to be held at Kuala Lumpur on the 28th and the 29th of October. The Asian body has long been keen to upgrade football administration in India and, particularly the 'showpiece' I-League, which kicked off this season with the motto of becoming 'a complete professional event'. But it was only after AFC adopted a tough stand that the clubs began fulfilling some of the AFC's pro-league criteria,which include that a club has to have proper commercial and legal entities before it can be allowed to participate in the AFC Champions league.The presence of Paul Barbar, executive director of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, definately added something. Barbar, who had visited India last month and even had talks with AIFF on a possible development programme, will talk on how to manage a pro club. Besides the Englishman, the AFC pro-league deputy chairman Tokuaki Suzuki will explain the objectives and activities of AFC professional league project and how a general manager should function. The AFC hopes to raise the level of general managers in Asia and then aims to increase the professionalism of the personnel who are managing the clubs in AFC Champions League scheduled for next year. Besides India, representatives from Australia, China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE,Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Tevez deal

Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson expects his side to tie up a permanent deal for Carlos Tevez despite interest from Real Madrid.The Argentine moved to Old Trafford on a two-year loan deal which expires at the end of the season and the European champions' first option is a permanent transfer. But I think and as reports suggest United would want to renegotiate the 30 million pounds fee being demanded by MRI, the company who own the rights to Tevez, while there have also been rumours that the Argentine forward is concerned about his lack of playing time this season

Stadium ban postponed

Breaking news just coming in, UEFA have postponed a two-match stadium ban imposed against the Atletico madrid, meaning Liverpool's Champion's League match can be played in the Spanish capital. UEFA had earlier ordered Atletico to play their next two European matches at a stadium at least 300 from Madrid as punishment for crowd disturbances and racist insults against Marseille players during a Champions League match on October 1.

England recovering..

England forward,Wayne Rooney has set England a target of winning all of their remaining World Cup qualifiers after his double-delight helped Fabio Capello's squad toa 3-1 win over Belarus and a four-out-of-four start to the campaign to reach South Africa 2010. Starngely enough,Capello appears to have the knack of getting the best out of Rooney, who has now scored five goals in his last three internationals under Capello, and the striker joined his team-mates in underlining the extent to which the new manager has transformed a squad that dismally failed to reach Euro 2008. One of the keys to England's revival has been the way Capello has been able to transform a player of Rooneys caliber, who failed to score a single competitive goal for his country between 2004 and 2007 into one of the most in-form Forwards in world football today. On the other hand,Beckham who also made a come-back under the Italian appeared late in to the game as a substitute winning himself his107th cap for England, leaving him only third in the record books behind legends Peter Shilton (125) and Bobby Moore (108).

Gerrards England future

England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard admitted that he is worried about his future in the England team.England will be playing Belarus on Wednesday in a crucial World Cup qualifier with a huge question mark over the midfield partnership of Gerrard and Chealsea midfielder Frank Lampard. The Coach of the England team,Fabio Capello is expected to stick with the both of them atleast for now, although Gerrard may be shunted out to the left-hand side.Gerrard is likely to keep his place because Capello will want his experience in the absence of Ace defenders John Terry and Ashley Cole.

raised eyebrows by suprise leaders

Nobody is admitting as much now, but more than a few eyebrows are raised over the standings at the end of the third round in the I-League.Suprisingly enough,there is an unusual pattern to the initial rounds with lesser-known teams perched at the top while the bigwigs cut a sorry figure. At the end of the third round, Goan side,Sporting Clube de Goa have emerged the unlikely leaders in the pack, winning all three of their matches but against opposition who are struggling to find their feet in the league though.. In a league as complicated, and difficult, as this one,the better-placed teams have always had starting problems. But, once they get into the groove and the depth of other squads are tested, nothing can stop them. Take last year for example. Viva Kerala started in blazing style, the newly-promoted south Indian side, the only representative from that part of the country, picked up seven points in their first three matches but in the end could not even save relegation. Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting, the top two teams in Kolkata judging by Kolkata Football League standings - are a far cry from their pre-season form with several players either looking jaded or recovering from niggling injuries. Bengal tooare on the same boat with national stars Sunil Chhetri and Surkumar Singh not available while Mahindra United coach Derrick Pereira is at his wits end trying to motivate a worn out side that takes pride in its seven National players.Mumbai FC and Air India, placed second and fourth respectively, are fresher for the I-League challenge while Goan teams, except perhaps for Vasco Sports Club, are better prepared having played a succession of friendlies in pre-season from teams across the border.

Defence the main worry?

ever since the Indian football league began, no winner has had a start as bad as Mahindra United this year.Three losses and an away game with JCT loom for them. That makes the team's task that much more difficult. It could also well be the turning point. That's what coach Derrick Pereira would be hoping when they play the Punjab side in Ludhiana.But for a team that recently won the Durand Cup it is suprising that their performance has dipped so alarmingly. In their opening tie against Churchill Brothers in the I-league their midfield failed and the team conceded two early goals. Against United SC, their defence was in tatters and against Mumbai FC, their strike force was found inadequate as well as their defence looked out of sorts. The form of Chidi Edeh is a worry as he recently just won the golden boot in the Durand Cup, which has perhaps been the biggest factor,but mainly it has been the defence.The answer lies in about 20 heads that have so far played for Mahindra and the one head that is trying to pull his hair out, coach Derrick Pereira. After their third loss, Pereira said he was happy with the performance, not with result. The problem probably lies somewhere in the defence, getting the right men for the right position. Sushant Matthew, who came in as substitute in the United SC game, started as right back against Mumbai FC and did well. Justine Stephen, who had a great Durand Cup, started against Mumbai FC and has justified Pereira's faith. Pereira has probably got the right combination in defence.

England before Capello

England defender, Rio Ferdinand said the national Football team set-up was like a circus until the arrival of Italian Fabio Capello as manager in January this year. The Manchester United defender, who will captain his country against Belarus in a World Cup qualifier in Minsk as stand-in for the injured John Terry, also thinks the players became obsessed by their celebrity lifestyles.Ferdinand's claims focused mainly on the 2006 World Cup, when manager Sven-Goran Eriksson allowed the WAGs to stay near the team hotel in the German spa town of Baden-Baden. England lost in a shootout to Portugal at the quarter-final stage in Germany following a goalless draw.

Ballack injury woes

England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard admitted that he is worried about his future in the England team.England will be playing Belarus on Wednesday in a crucial World Cup qualifier with a huge question mark over the midfield partnership of Gerrard and Chealsea midfielder Frank Lampard. The Coach of the England team,Fabio Capello is expected to stick with the both of them atleast for now, although Gerrard may be shunted out to the left-hand side.Gerrard is likely to keep his place because Capello will want his experience in the absence of Ace defenders John Terry and Ashley Cole.

Atletico handed two match home ban after crowd trouble

The UEFA have ordered spanish club, Atletico Madrid to play their next two Champions League home matches 300 kilometres outsideMadrid following some awful crowd trouble earlier this month against French side Marseille. Accoring to sources in the European soccer's governing body,the punishment could be extended to a third home match should there be any kind of further trouble at the club within a five-year probationary period.