Milan Move for Beckham

AC Milan have all but sealed a deal to sign David Beckham on loan from LA Galaxy.

Milan have confirmed they are set to sign Beckham from the Los Angeles Galaxy and head coach Carlo Ancelotti claims it would be "a pleasure" to have the 33-year-old at the San Siro.

Capello last week stressed Beckham has a key role to play for the foreseeable future with England, as he looks to add to his 107 caps.

But he also confirmed the former Manchester United midfielder would not be selected to face Spain in February if he remained inactive during the MLS close season.

Beckham is under contract with the LA Galaxy but their regular season finishes on Sunday.

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said on Wednesday at Milan's Malpensa airport: "We are speaking with his agent but we believe he will arrive for some months on a free loan.

"We shall register him for some months and then he will leave. Beckham has chosen Milan. Our squad is ultra-competitive and it will remain this way, but Beckham is something different and intriguing."

Ancelotti told acmilan.com: "For me it will be a pleasure, Beckham is a serious athlete, a great professional.

"If he is available for four months with us, we will be very happy."

Beckham would bring added strength to the Milan midfield, and provide Ancelotti with fresh options, although he already has the likes of Kaka, Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo to select from.

Former AC Milan and England striker Luther Blissett believes the move to Italy would do Beckham the world of good.

"If he's really going to be part of this England revolution he's got to be playing regular, top-class football with top-class players," Blissett told Setanta Sports News.

"I think he'd make a great addition to what they have. And for Beckham to be playing alongside the likes of Kaka and Seedorf in midfield would be great for him as much as it would be for Milan."

Galliani had indicated at the weekend Beckham would be invited to train with Milan during the coming months, however, it now seems he could sign a short-term deal, possibly until March, allowing him to return to the United States for the start of the MLS campaign.

Beckham had been linked with the Rossoneri before leaving Real Madrid for the United States in 2007 and Ancelotti has continued to monitor him.

Capello, who had two spells as head coach of Milan and also played for the club, has been pleased with Beckham's contribution this year, although he has recently been a fringe member of the England squad.

England have a busy start to 2009. They have a probable friendly against Spain lined up for February, plus a home friendly against Slovakia in March, and World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine in April, and Kazakhstan and Andorra in June.

Beckham has moved to within one appearance of the 108-cap tally achieved by World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore, with only 125-times-capped Peter Shilton having played more matches for England.

David Beckham Factfile:

1975: Born Leytonstone, May 2.

1991: Joins Manchester United as trainee.

1992: Makes United debut against Brighton in the League Cup on September 23. Wins FA Youth Cup.

1993: Signs professional contract at Old Trafford.

1995: Joins Preston on loan in February and scores two goals in five games.

1996: Helps United win the double, collecting Premier League winners' medal and FA Cup winners' medal.

Scores goal of the season on the opening day at Wimbledon, lobbing goalkeeper Neil Sullivan from the halfway line. Makes his England debut in the 3-0 qualifying win in Moldova.

1997: Collects another championship winners' medal, voted PFA Young Player of the Year. United win Charity Shield.

1998: Scores first England goal, a free-kick against Colombia in Lens on June 26. Sent off in second round penalty shoot-out defeat against Argentina.

Vilified by the nation for the retaliatory kick against Diego Simeone, and subsequent red card, which many people believe cost England place in quarter-finals.

1999: Responds to World Cup disgrace with consistently good performances for United, who win the Premier League, FA Cup and, memorably, the European Cup after coming from behind to beat Bayern Munich with two late goals.

Rewarded for a fine season by being voted runner-up in World Player of the Year awards, behind Brazilian Rivaldo.

2000: May: Collects his fourth championship winner's medal as United win the title by a record 18 points.

June: Aims gesture at abusive England fans following defeat in the opening game of Euro 2000 against Portugal. England bow out in group stages of the tournament.

November: Made England captain for the November friendly with Italy in Turin by stand-in boss Peter Taylor.

2001: New England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson appoints Beckham as captain for his first match in charge, the friendly against Spain at Villa Park.

May: Collects another Premier League title with Manchester United.

September: Captains England to their remarkable 5-1 victory in Germany.

October: Curls in a 25-yard last-minute free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford to earn England a 2-2 draw and send them into the World Cup finals.

December 9: Voted the BBC's 2001 Sports Personality of the Year.

2002: April: United confirm he will be out for between six to eight weeks with a broken metatarsal, which would mean him missing the rest of United's season and possibly the start of the World Cup.

May 11: Signs new three-year contract reported to be worth between £90,000 and £100,000 a week.

June 7: Beckham, who is able to lead England out for their opening World Cup match against Sweden, scores from the penalty spot against Argentina to seal a 1-0 win. England bow out in the quarter-finals at the hands of eventual winners Brazil.

2003: February: Beckham involved in new controversy after Ferguson accidentally kicks a boot into his face in frustration at United's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal, leaving the England skipper with a gash above his eye.

April 23: Beckham left out of the starting line-up for United's crucial Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash with Real Madrid at Old Trafford. Beckham scores twice as a substitute but it is too late to save the Red Devils, who lose 6-5 on aggregate.

May 22: Suffers a fractured scaphoid (bone between thumb and wrist) in 2-1 friendly victory over South Africa.

June 10: United accept a bid made by Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta for Beckham. Laporta makes signing Beckham the cornerstone of his election campaign.

June 14: Awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to football.

June 17: United announce they have accepted a £25million bid from Real Madrid for Beckham and player agrees personal terms.

July 1: Passes medical with Real Madrid and signs four-year deal.

October 11: Helps England secure the goalless draw in Turkey which clinches automatic qualification for Euro 2004 but is involved in a half-time bust-up with Alpay as the teams leave the pitch.

2004: May 16: Sent off for arguing with a linesman over a controversial penalty award during Real Madrid's La Liga clash with Murcia.

June 24: Misses a penalty as England lose to Portugal in a shoot-out in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals in Lisbon.

2005: November - Captains England for 50th time in friendly against Argentina in Geneva.

2006: June 25 - Scores winning goal in World Cup second-round match against Ecuador from free-kick.

July 1 - Substituted during England's World Cup quarter-final defeat by Portugal due to injury.

July 2 - Stands down as England captain.

August 11 - Dropped from squad for friendly against Greece, Steve McClaren's first match as manager.

2007: January 11 - Beckham announces he will leave Real Madrid and join Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy on a five-year contract in August. The deal is believed to be worth £128million over the period.

January 13 - Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello says Beckham will never play for the club again.

February 10 - Scores on his Real Madrid comeback with a trademark free-kick against Real Sociedad.

May 26 - England manager Steve McClaren hands Beckham a shock recall for the matches against Brazil and Estonia.

June 10 - Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon reveals the club will attempt to keep David Beckham at the Bernabeu but their approach to buy the England midfielder out of his Los Angeles Galaxy contract is rebuffed.

June 17 - Finally wins a trophy with Real Madrid as his side clinch the league title with a 3-1 win over Mallorca.

August 16 - Scores his first goal for Galaxy on his full debut in the SuperLiga semi-final meeting with DC United with a trademark free-kick.

November 22 - Part of the England side that lose 3-2 at home to Croatia and thus miss out on qualification for Euro 2008.

December 21 - Comes to an agreement with Arsenal to train with them during the MLS off-season.

2008 - January 31 - Left out of Fabio Capello's first England squad for the following week's friendly against Switzerland.

March 16 - Plays the full 90 minutes for Los Angeles Galaxy in a friendly against FC Dallas with Capello's assistant Franco Baldini watching on.

March 26 - Wins 100th cap in the friendly international against France on March 26.

May 31 - Named as England captain for the friendly away to Trinidad and Tobago.

October 15 - Wins his 107th cap in the 3-1 win over Belarus, overtaking Sir Bobby Charlton in the process and putting him third on England's all-time list.

October 22 - AC Milan confirm they are trying to sign the midfielder on loan during the MLS off-season.

Source:
http://www.sportinglife.com

Toseland Shrugs Off Tyre Worries

James Toseland is confident the new limit on the number of Bridgestone tyres each rider can use in MotoGP next season will not present any problems.

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider is one of those changing tyre brands for next season after Bridgestone were awarded the contract to become sole supplier.

Toseland, who this season is using Michelin tyres, believes Bridgestone's plan to cut the number of tyres per rider at each GP from 40 to 20 is workable.

Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner had claimed the reduction would not work but Toseland, one of a few riders to have experienced a single-tyre rule from his World Superbike days, claimed Bridgestone would not propose the reduction if they were not confident in the quota.

He told MCN: "If they are confident enough to only give that amount then they are confident that the product will be good enough or have something across the board people will be happy with.

"They must be confident with what they have got. Because if people are a bit wary of that, and it will be Bridgestone people, they will know if that amount is enough as it will be them taking the heat if it's not enough."

Source:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
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Rookies Teams clash again

Saturday in Valencia, the final MotoGP weekend of the season, sees the Red Bull Riders Cup contested for the second time.

The top ten riders from the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup cross the Atlantic to do battle with their opposite numbers from the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

The Riders Cup was contested for the first time on the other side of the ocean as part of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. In the most tricky conditions imaginable, the MotoGP team benefited from some misfortune that saw key members of the opposition fall. It was, for the AMA riders, unfamiliar, wet and slippery conditions.

Valencia in October will probably be kinder and the race closer. No one is expecting a repeat of the 114 to 26 score line.

For the American trip the MotoGP Rookies travelled together and pulled together as a team. Back on home soil and with the first victory under their belt there is an undeniable element of individual desire in the way that the key members of the team are looking at the rematch.

"I'm looking forward to it and for sure I want another good result", says Sturla Fagerhaug, winner in Indianapolis and a close third in the 2008 MotoGP Rookies Cup. The 16 year old Norwegian has had plenty of time to think about things since the American trip. "The weekend I got back from Indy I did a race in Spain but since then I've just been at home training and that sort of thing. I have not been on a bike for a month but I don't think it will be too much of a problem. I'd been off the bike for a few weeks before Indy as well."

"I don't think it's going to be easy for us to win in Valencia. We went to Indy and they had the home advantage but we still won. This time we have the home advantage but they could also turn that round on us. We should win, we know the track very well but anything can happen, a few crashes, we can't assume anything."

"For myself I do want another good result but there are a lot of other guys with the same idea, from our side, Luis (Salom) will be at home and sure to be fast, then Matt Hoyle is going well and so is Mathew Scholtz. From their side I expect it will be the same guys as at Indianapolis, Hayden Gillim, Jake Gagne, Leandro Mercado and Benny Solis."

While Fagerhaug may have been at home thinking about racing his team mate Matthew Hoyle has been busy, testing the new Maxtra Grand Prix 125 and winning the British 125 Championship. Very happy though he is with the National Championship, Hoyle will not be satisfied to complete his two season's as a Red Bull Rookie without a victory. Second places are just not enough.

"I am going there to win", says 17 year old Hoyle simply. "It's my last Rookies race and I want to go out with a win. I know I've got the pace, I've just got to put the full race together. I won 6 races in the 125 British Championship this year so I know how to do it, I've just not yet done it in the Rookies."

"I know it is a team race but I can't get away from the fact that I want to win this one. As for the team side of things; I think it will be harder for the AMA guys to come to Valencia and do what we did at Indianapolis. I think that Valencia is a harder track to learn than Indy and we all know it well. There's nothing certain in racing but it will be hard for them to learn it in the time available."

"I think the other fast guys are going to be Luis Salom, because he has been fast all year and it's his home race, plus Sturla, he's quick and he's on form", concluded Hoyle.

Whoever wins in Valencia will keep the Riders Cup over the winter. The odds may favour the MotoGP Cup Team but if the AMA U.S. Cup squad can pull together as a team they might just spring a surprise and carry the trophy home.
© CAPSIS International

Source:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Hayden prepares for emotional finale

Nicky Hayden prepares to bid farewell to Honda in the MotoGP season finale at Valencia.

Former MotoGP title winner Nicky Hayden has admitted it will be an emotional experience when he takes part in his final event for Honda this weekend in Valencia.

The Repsol Honda rider will bring the curtain down on a nine-year run with the Japanese marque in the season finale - with the last six of those years having been spent in the MotoGP paddock.

Having endured two difficult seasons since taking the 2006 title, Hayden will move onto pastures new in 2009 when he joins Ducati and he admitted it would be an emotional experience when he hits the track on his RC212V for the final time at the venue where he secured his championship crown.

"I really love Valencia and I love the atmosphere, it's always special to race in front of a Spanish crowd," he said. "I don't want to sound soft but it will be an emotional weekend.

"This team has been family the last six years - I was 21 years old when I showed up in Europe from Kentucky! We've had a good run together. I'm really grateful for the opportunity Honda gave me. Not a lot of people can say they rode factory Hondas for nine years. From the RC51 on, I've ridden some of the baddest bikes ever and worked with some great engineers. We'll be hoping we can go out strong.

"Valencia has got a special place in my heart for obvious reasons. I like the way they built the track inside a natural bowl. I like big, fast, flowing tracks too, but I like how Valencia is all right there, you really feel the energy. It's the last race of the year, so everyone goes all out. On the map it looks like a go-kart track but it doesn't feel like that riding it. You need a bike that gets round corners better than it goes in a straight line and you've got to be aggressive."

Hayden is set to make his Ducati debut in testing following the weekend when he hits the track on the new GP9.

Source:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

LG M6100

Specifications
LG M6100
Network2G
3G
GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
SizeDimensions
Weight
Display
89.7 x 40 x 19.9 mm (3.53 x 1.57 x 0.78 in)
88 gram
TFT, 256K colors
128 x 160 pixels, 1.3 inches (~158 ppi density)
MemoryPhonebook
Call records
Internal
Card slot
1000 entries, Photocall
10 dialed, 10 received, 10 missed calls
128 MB
DataGPRS
EDGE
3G
WLAN
Bluetooth
Infrared port
USB
Class 10



Yes

miniUSB
FeaturesOS
CPU
Messaging
Alert
Browser
Radio
GPS
Games
Camera
Video
Colors
Java


SMS, EMS, MMS
Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic ringtones
WAP 2.0/xHTML


Yes
1.3 MP
QCIF
Silver, Blue, Black
MIDP 2.0
- Loudspeaker with stereo speakers
- Mini-SIM
- Downloadable wallpapers
- MP3/AAC/WMA/3GP player
- Predictive text input
- Organizer
- Voice memo
- Clock
- Calendar
- Alarm
Battery
Stand-by
Talk time
Standard battery, Li-Ion 800 mAh
Up to 200 h
Up to 3 h

Image: http://www.welectronics.co

LG U890

Specifications
LG U890
Network2G
3G
GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
UMTS 2100
SizeDimensions
Weight
Display
98.8 x 49 x 18.2 mm, 80 cc (3.89 x 1.93 x 0.72 in)
99 gram
TFT, 256K colors
176 x 220 pixels, 2.2 inches (~128 ppi density)
MemoryPhonebook
Call records
Internal
Card slot
Yes
10 dialed, 10 received, 10 missed calls
68 MB
microSD
DataGPRS
EDGE
3G
WLAN
Bluetooth
Infrared port
USB
Class 10

384 kbps

v1.1 with A2DP

Yes
FeaturesOS
CPU
Messaging
Alert
Browser
Radio
GPS
Games
Camera
Video
Colors
Java


SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones
WAP 2.0/xHTML


Yes
1.3 MP, 180 deg rotating lens
QCIF
Silver

- Loudspeaker with stereo speakers
- Mini-SIM
- Second external TFT display, 65K colors, (96 x 96 pixels)
- Downloadable wallpapers
- Video-calling
- Video telephony
- MP3/AAC/MP4 player
- Predictive text input
- Organizer
- Clock
- Calendar
- Alarm
Battery
Stand-by
Talk time
Standard Li-Ion battery
Up to
Up to

Image: http://www.welectronics.com/gs

Wet Afternoon Follows Sunny Morning as MotoGP Hits Malaysia

As the World Championship participants arrived at the Sepang circuit for the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix there was some typically hot weather on Thursday morning welcoming them to town, with a torrential downpour drenching the paddock in the afternoon.

In contrast to the cool, fresh conditions of Phillip Island last time out, the MotoGP paddock had hot, sticky weather to acclimatise to in the morning (30°C heat and 83% humidity as of 10am local time) as final preparations took place ahead of the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

The on-track action at the penultimate round of the season commences at the normal time of 9am on Friday, but first there was time for some build-up at the South East Asian circuit on Thursday, with a tropical storm arriving in the early afternoon as is typical in Malaysia at this time of year – a factor which could affect this weekend’s racing.

Traditional Malaysian dancers in full costume with typical local musical instruments brought some extra colour to the paddock, although such was the level of precipitation they had to stick close to the pit-boxes for shelter as they invited riders to try out a popular local game called `sepak takraw´ - which involves a group of people standing in a circle taking turns to balance a small rattan ball with their feet.

The more serious business of the official pre-event press conference took place in the customary 4pm slot, with Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) joined by Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro), Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda), James Toseland (Tech3 Yamaha) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) in the state-of-the-art Sepang media centre.

2008 World Champion Rossi commented, ‘Although I clinched the title in Japan I still want to be competitive at every round and these last two races are really important for me. I did some crucial tests on my new Bridgestone tyres here in the winter but the settings I use have changed a lot since then so it will still be a tough weekend. The weather could play a big part here and even though this is a difficult track it is always a pleasure to ride.’

Source:
http://www.superbike-news.co.uk

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