Pro Eleven Headlines
Beckham joins AC Milan
David Beckham will join AC Milan in January on a three-month loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy to maintain his fitness and prolong his career with the English national team.
The former England captain's stint in Serie A will begin Jan. 7, and he will rejoin his Galaxy teammates in March.
"He will have to go back to Galaxy by the time the MLS starts, and training before that," Milan sporting director Umberto Gandini said Thursday. "David is committed to the LA Galaxy and the MLS. Only David knows his future, but for sure he has a commitment to go back to the MLS and fulfill that."
Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said an agreement was reached Thursday with Beckham's lawyers, although a contract is still to be written.
The 33-year-old midfielder is eager to play in Europe during the MLS offseason to remain fit and available for selection for England, which plays an exhibition at Germany on Nov. 19 before World Cup 2010 qualifying resumes in March.
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena declined to say what the Galaxy will get in return from lending Beckham to AC Milan, and that the loan was never sought for longer than three months.
"The terms of the agreement will remain confidential," Arena said on a conference call with reporters. "In my view, this on the part of David was a purely technical rationale. He wants to continue to play for England. He wants to be in a good environment ... and what better environment can you be in than AC Milan?"
The Galaxy coach added that he wasn't overly concerned that Beckham would get injured.
"When players don't go 100 percent, they get hurt. David is a very experienced player, and knows when to go for challenges and when not to," Arena said.
Beckham is one appearance away from matching the record 108 for an outfield player — held by 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore. Goalkeeper Peter Shilton holds the overall England record of 125.
"Milan has made a good acquisition," said England manager Fabio Capello, who also coached Beckham at Real Madrid. "In Madrid, I dropped him from the team because he signed with Los Angeles. But he continued to come and train and I put him back on the team."
Beckham will likely undergo medical tests Dec. 20 and be introduced a day later, when the club will unveil his jersey number. He is set to travel with Milan to Dubai for a midwinter training camp, which includes an exhibition.
Beckham's first competitive game for Milan could come in the capital against AS Roma on Jan. 11.
He will become the first English player to play for the club since 1987, when Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley left the club.
Beckham will join a stellar midfield at the San Siro, including Italy's World Cup champions Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso, plus Massimo Ambrosini, Mathieu Flamini and Clarence Seedorf.
During the last MLS offseason, Beckham trained with Arsenal to keep fit, but did not play for the English Premier League club.
Beckham starred for Manchester United and Real Madrid before joining the Galaxy in January 2007 in a five-year deal.
After resigning the England captaincy following the 2006 World Cup, Beckham was briefly dropped.
Spurs CONFIRM New Stadium
TOTTENHAM have confirmed their intention to build a new 60,000-capacity stadium near their current White Hart Lane ground.
In their financial results released to the stock market on Thursday, Spurs announced further details of the Northumberland Development Project, a large-scale development incorporating leisure facilities, public space and housing as well as the new stadium.
Chairman Daniel Levy's statement said: "The scheme includes the current site and adjoining land with the stadium sited largely to the north of the existing one."
While the club's financial results made positive reading - for the year ending June 30 2008 turnover was up 11% and the building of a new training centre is expected to start next year - it will undoubtedly be the stadium plans which please supporters most.
The Tottenham board pushed ahead with proposals for a larger stadium with a season ticket waiting list of around 22,000 but were conscious of the importance of remaining in the Haringey area.
Other sites were considered but ultimately it was decided their current location, plus land adjacent to it, was the most suitable option.
Levy said: "With a waiting list for season tickets of over 22,000 and club membership levels of over 70,000, our need for an increased capacity stadium has been clear for all to see for some time.
"We diligently spent considerable time reviewing our options and the news that our supporters had been waiting for came this month when we announced our intention to remain in Tottenham, confirming the Northumberland Development Project - a world class scheme incorporating a new stadium with a capacity of 60,000, a club museum, new shops, restaurants, homes and important public space.
"Having reviewed our stadium options it was clear that there were a limited number of alternative sites to our current location and following discussions with Council bodies, the LDA, Transport for London and local and central government officials, redeveloping the existing site emerged as the most viable route.
"We have spent 5 years buying and taking options over property around the current stadium site to enable us to either develop locally or to gain the critical mass to achieve a substantial site sale as a contribution to a relocation. To date this includes almost 60 separate property transactions, including 40 residential and potentially 160 commercial properties at a commitment of £44m."
Hoffenheim takes Bundesliga lead
Hoffenheim has remained atop the German Bundesliga standings following its comprehensive 3-1 victory against 10-man VfL Bochum.
The hosts stunned Hoffenheim only three minutes into the game when Dennis Grote netted from the edge of the area after a headed clearance.
Nigerian striker Chinedu Obasi squandered two ideal opportunities for Hoffenheim late in the first half.
Ralf Rangnick's men then stormed back after the interval and turned the game in a seven-minute span.
Senegal striker Demba Ba scored a spectacular equalizer after 64 minutes. Bosnian international striker Vedad Ibisevic converted a penalty six minutes later and Carlos Eduardo sealed the victory with a flick over Bochum's goalkeeper a minute later.
Bochum's agony was complete when Christoph Dabrowski was sent off after receiving a second yellow in the 76th minute.
In other Wednesday's matches, defending champion Bayern Munich defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1, Hamburger SV edged out Stuttgart 2-0, Hertha Berlin trounced Hannover 3-0 and Cologne lost to Borussia Dortmund 0-1.
Hoffenheim tops the Bundesliga table with 22 points from Bayer Leverkusen (21), with SV Hamburg third on 20. HRF/RA
French leader Lyon looks to extend lead with home win over Le Mans
Having snapped its three-match winless streak with an away win at Sochaux, seven-time defending champion Lyon looks to extend its lead at the top of the French league with a home win over fifth-place Le Mans on Sunday (Setanta Canada, 2:55 p.m. ET).
Karim Benzema's league-leading seventh goal of the season helped Lyon win 2-0 at last-place Sochaux on Wednesday, and the France striker admitted that "the win really did us a lot of good" after the team had struggled in recent games.
Lyon's rocky defence has not allowed a goal in the last two games and defender Jean-Alain Boumsong sees this as a positive sign that the team could go on another winning run.
"We will have to take the feel-good factor that such a win brings," Boumsong said on Lyon's website.
After 11 rounds, Lyon has 24 points and leads Bordeaux and Toulouse by three, with Marseille in fourth place with 20 points. Le Mans is next with 18 points.
Lyon's defence is likely to be tested by Le Mans, which boasts the league's best away record and has scored 13 goals away from home - more than any other team.
Marseille needs to get its confidence back following a 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and a 1-1 draw at Nantes on Wednesday. Marseille hosts Saint-Etienne (Setanta Canada, 3:55 p.m. ET) on Saturday with the visitors is in poor form after a 4-1 loss to Lorient.
"We could have hoped for better in the league table, we have mixed feelings," Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda said. "We have to recover properly because we have an important match on Saturday."
Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc is happy that his plans are coming together early in the season, and another win at struggling Nancy on Saturday would keep the pressure on Lyon. Bordeaux finished second to Lyon last season.
With David Bellion, Yoann Gourcuff and Fernando Cavenaghi combining well in Tuesday's 4-0 win over Le Havre, Blanc expects his team to keep creating chances at Nancy.
"We have quick players who can get themselves into one-on-ones with the goalkeeper," Blanc said. "Strikers feed on confidence and the best way to get that is to score goals. We didn't concede a goal (against Le Havre) and scored four. We will have to keep this consistency if we want to keep improving."
In Saturday's other games, Paris Saint-Germain looks to bounce back with a good performance at Nice after losing 1-0 at home to Toulouse.
"I am not a dreamer," PSG coach Paul Le Guen said. "I know the value of my squad and I know it will be a hard season. I think we can do well as long as we stick together. We have to fight and I am ready to do that."
In Saturday's other games, it's Lille versus Nantes, Toulouse versus Caen, Lorient versus Grenoble, and Auxerre versus Valenciennes.
On Sunday, it's Rennes versus Sochaux and Le Havre versus Monaco.
