Former England captain David Beckham is set to make his Italian league debut for AC Milan in tomorrow’s match at AS Roma following a midweek friendly and weeks of anticipation as teams return from the winter break.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United midfielder, due to return to parent club Los Angeles Galaxy in March following a short-term deal in Italy, played the first 45 minutes in a friendly against Hamburg in Dubai on Tuesday.
Although pre-match hype has surrounded Beckham, a victory for AC Milan has been billed as a springboard toward challenging for the title, while a Roma win would help them dream of Champions League qualification after a dreadful start to the season.
Milan beat Udinese 5-1 in their last match before Christmas with Beckham watching from the sidelines and they will want to wipe away the memory of defeats to arch rivals Juventus and Palermo and look to make up the nine-point deficit behind leaders and arch rivals Inter. Roma, who play at Arsenal next month as the Champions League knockout stage starts, are way back in 11th spot and Luciano Spalletti’s men have work to do to reach the fourth spot necessary to qualify for next year’s event.
Juventus, six points behind Inter in second spot, tomorrow host lowly Siena, who caused a shock by beating the Turin giants earlier this year. Jose Mourinho’s Inter may be many people’s tip for the title, but Claudio Ranieri’s Juventus are considered strong contenders following their recent good league form after an uninspiring start. Cristiano Zanetti, Claudio Marchisio and David Trezeguet all look available for selection after being injured.
As for Inter, demanding coach Mourinho has urged his team not to show overconfidence at home to Cagliari in today’s late game.
“In 2009 we need to improve everything, psychologically and tactically,” Mourinho said. “We are halfway through a season which could be positive, negative or exceptional.”
Patrick Vieira will not appear for Inter and nor will the suspended Douglas Maicon, though Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be playing. Cagliari meanwhile have defensive problems because of the absence of Paolo Bianco and Diego Lopez.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB