Beckham certain to return to Milan

Beckham certain to return to Milan MILAN – David BeckhamDavid Beckham’s return to AC Milan on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy in January is nearly “100 percent” certain says the Serie A club’s CEO Adriano GallianiAdriano Galliani.Beckham has long been linked with a second loan spell at Milan, after performing ...Read More MILAN – David Beckham’s return to AC Milan on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy in January is nearly “100 percent” certain says the Serie A club’s CEO Adriano Galliani.
Beckham has long been linked with a second loan spell at Milan, after performing well in a six-month stay with the Serie A side last season.
“A great player will arrive, his first name is David, his last name Beckham,” Galliani was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency Monday. Galliani made the remarks to Sky Italia.
“It is practically 100 percent certain, what’s missing is the signatures, but there is total agreement,” Galliani added.
Beckham, who wants to return to Europe to maintain his place in England’s 2010 World Cup squad, has helped the Galaxy reach the eight-team MLS playoffs for the first time in four years.
The Galaxy will play archrival Chivas USA, which shares the same Home Depot Center stadium as Beckham’s side, when the Western Conference semifinals get underway. Chivas will be the home team for the first match on Nov. 1, with the Galaxy hosting the return leg Nov. 8. The MLS final is Nov. 22.

Totti undergoes surgery
AS Roma captain Francesco TottiFrancesco Totti has had a minor operation on his troublesome right knee and his recovery time is uncertain, the Serie A club said Monday.
The 33-year-old striker suffered cruciate ligament damage in April last year and underwent major surgery. His knee continued to cause him problems last season though and he has missed the last two league games after suffering discomfort.
“No other tears were found in the course of the surgery,” Roma said in a statement, adding it was too early to say when he might play again.
Totti, who started the campaign in good form, had been linked with an Italy return for next year’s World Cup having retired from international soccer after its 2006 triumph.
Mid-table Roma also announced Monday that former Italy volleyball coach Gianpaolo Montali would work as a consultant for the club for the next two seasons.
He previously worked on the Juventus board and recently turned down an approach to become Napoli’s sporting director.

Robins eyes Utd knockout
Nearly two decades after his FA Cup goal for Manchester United likely kept Alex FergusonAlex Ferguson in a job at Old Trafford, Mark Robins will try to knock his old manager’s side out of the League Cup.
Robins’s goal in a 1-0 third round win against Nottingham Forest back in January 1990 came when former Aberdeen manager Ferguson was under pressure after three three years without a trophy at Old Trafford.
But United went on to win the FA Cup, the first of 25 major trophies Ferguson has brought to the club. They include last season’s League Cup but the 39-year-old Robins, now the manager of Championship side Barnsley, will look to put one over his former boss at Oakwell Tuesday.
Now the thought of Ferguson being forced out of United, even though the champion lost Sunday to arch-rivals Liverpool, seems fanciful.
However, the Scot was not always so secure in his job as Robins recalled.
“I had just broken into the first-team fold,” he said. “The week before I had scored my first league goal against Wimbledon at Plough Lane. There was no alternative but to play me against Forest because there were a lot of injuries to senior players. In the first half, I got a chance and hit it just past the post. I got the hair-dryer treatment at half-time because I didn’t lay it back to Brian McClair.”
Robins doesn’t mind being known as the man who saved Ferguson’s job even if his old manager has a slightly different take on the events of that key match.
“It’s nice that people think of the goal in that way and that I can have that claim, if you like,” Robins said. “But Sir Alex wrote a book and, in it, he was asked the question did the goal save his job? He wrote that in training I would have missed it - but because I got a push in the back from Stuart PearceStuart Pearce it went in!
“So did I save his job? Yes, I did.” - Agencies