Robert Millward

England manager Fabio Capello has brought David Beckham back into his team and it's nothing to do with the star reaching 100 appearances. He believes that the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder might well be wearing the same white shirt at the 2010 World Cup.

AS Roma eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League on Wednesday, beating the nine-time champions 2-1 and sending the Spanish team out of the first knockout round for the fourth season in a row. Chelsea also made it to the quarterfinals, beating Olympiakos 3-0, while Schalke beat FC Porto 4-1 on penalties.

For the survivors of the February 6 1958 Munich air crash that took away the heart of the so-called Busby Babes, the 50th anniversary of one of soccer's worst tragedies -- to be marked on Wednesday -- is more of an ordeal than simply remembering lost Manchester United teammates.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals on Sunday to help Manchester United beat Tottenham 3-1 in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and United celebrated some more when neighbour Manchester City was ousted by Sheffield United 2-1. Robbie Keane gave Spurs a 24th-minute lead at Old Trafford, but Carlos Tevez equalised in the 38th.

With South Africa set to stage the qualifying draw for the 2010 World Cup, Fifa president Sepp Blatter is claiming a personal victory. ''I am very happy to be here in Durban, South Africa -- [in] my continent,'' he said. The Fifa leader claims credit for making sure Africa finally gets to host soccer's biggest championship.

World Cup 2010 chief Danny Jordaan defended South Africa's safety record in hosting major sporting events on Monday, arguing that not one fan or athlete had been affected in 13 years. He claimed that rising tourist numbers indicate there are no major safety issues about which to be concerned.

Manchester City edged defending champions Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday, giving Sven-Goran Eriksson his third straight shut-out in three matches as a Premier League manager and a two-point lead at the top of the standings. Brazilian midfielder Geovanni, one of Eriksson's eight pre-season signings, scored the winning goal in the 31st minute.

Andriy Voronin scored two minutes before half-time, and five-time winners Liverpool won 1-0 at Toulouse on Wednesday to move a step closer to the lucrative group stage of the Champions League. Voronin fired a rising shot from 20m after collecting a headed pass from Peter Crouch.

To captain Ricky Ponting and his all-conquering Australia team, the World Cup is another box to tick. Pace-bowler Glenn McGrath, facing his last match before retirement, describes Saturday's final against Sri Lanka as business as usual, while opposition captain Mahela Jayawardene aims to convince his players it's not even a final.

Sri Lanka took over as the leading contender for Australia's World Cup title by beating New Zealand by six wickets on Thursday. Despite a century by Scott Styris, New Zealand lumbered to only 219 for seven at Grenada and the Sri Lankans ambled to the target with almost five overs to spare.

The semifinals for the Cricket World Cup could effectively be decided two weeks ahead of schedule and some fans are trying to sell tickets they no longer want. This isn't how the organisers of the first World Cup in the Caribbean saw it happening. The Super Eights were expected to be a close-run competition to decide the final four teams.

Chelsea won 2-1 at Tottenham and Manchester United edged Middlesbrough 1-0 on Monday to reach the FA Cup semifinals. Second-half goals by Andriy Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips put Chelsea ahead in a quarterfinal replay at White Hart Lane before Robbie Keane replied for Spurs from the penalty spot.