David Beckham’s World Cup dream appears almost certainly to be over, according to England manager Fabio Capello, who spoke with the former captain after he tore his Achilles tendon during AC Milan’s Serie A game with Chievo. The seriousness of the injury, combined with Beckham’s age, means England’s most-capped outfield player might never play again. It is a huge blow to Capello, who contacted Beckham late on Sunday night European time. “We have to wait for the results of the scan, but it looks like he is out of the World Cup,” said the England coach. “David is a great professional and has worked very hard to be ready for the World Cup, so missing it will be a big blow.” A tearful Beckham limped to the touchline, appearing to say, ”It’s broken, it’s broken,” after sustaining the injury without contact from an opponent. It is expected to be three months before he can run and double that before he can play again. More likely he will be out for the remainder of the year which, as he turns 35 in May, raises questions about his long-term future. He was to have an operation in Finland immediately. PETE, ANDRE SPAT Things went a little sour at the weekend as former world No.1 players Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras managed to turn what was intended to be a tennis charity event in aid of the Haiti earthquake fund into a personal slanging match. Relations have been especially tense since the release of Agassi’s autobiography, Open , last year, in which he referred to an incident in which Sampras had reportedly tipped a a parking valet $US1. Responding to a comment from Agassi about how serious he was being, Sampras did a well-observed imitation of Agassi’s pigeon-toed walk, prompting his rival to turn his pockets inside out and say: ”I don’t have any money. No, wait, I’ve got a dollar,” before adding: ”It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt, huh?” The response from Sampras could not have been any clearer as he aimed a serve directly at Agassi’s head. ”If that’s the way you want to play it,” Sampras said. Agassi retorted: ”You know what, it’s better than being a valet driver and you pulling up.” And when Sampras said: ”You got personal with me,” Agassi replied: ”No, no, everybody knows it already, Pete. Nothing personal.” AL’S BIG PAYDAY Alistair Presnell could not afford a new car before the World Golf Championships event in Florida. Now he can afford to go house-hunting, after a brilliant final round at the $US8.5million ($9.3m) WGC-CA Championship. The unheralded Australian rattled home with a magnificent eight-under-par 64, matching the day’s best score in a strong breeze at Doral’s Blue Monster. He finished equal sixth behind South African winner Ernie Els, picking up $US214,300, nearly double the previous biggest payday of his career. That is serious dosh to the 30-year-old from Melbourne, who started the week ranked 373rd in the world, one of the few non-multimillionaires in the field. ”Any kind of money is big money for me,” Presnell said. ”I was having dinner with [Geoff] Ogilvy and Scotty [Adam Scott] the other night and they’re talking about their Porsche GT3s and I’m thinking about my $5000 car back home. NSW NAB DILSHAN NSW has scored a coup by securing the services of one of the most destructive Twenty20 batsmen in world cricket, Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan, for the next Big Bash in Australia. ”He is an outstanding all-round player,” Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert said. ”We look forward to him playing a leading role in helping NSW win next season’s Big Bash and thereby qualifying for the Champions League.” The 33-year-old became the headline act during the T20 World Cup last year, unveiling a flick shot over his head since copied to great effect by New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum. Dilshan was awarded the player-of-the-series award for his 317 runs at 52.83 during Sri Lanka’s charge to the World Cup final, won by Pakistan. ‘MILTON’ IS RIGHT THE crowd at Whistler Medals Plaza on Sunday evening enjoyed the AC/DC played to get them revved up but showed their ignorance of Australia’s Winter Paralympic history when they participated in a quiz. Australia might have won their 25th Winter Paralympic medal on Sunday, but the crowd voted true when asked was it true or false that Australia’s first Winter Paralympic gold medal was won by Toby Kane. Kane, a leg amputee alpine skier, carried the flag for Australia at the 2010 Vancouver Games opening ceremony on Friday night. He was only five in 1992 when Michael Milton won that first gold medal at the Albertville Games. Telegraph, London, Agencies, Will Swanton and Daniel Lewis
View original post here:
Achilles tear threatens Beckham’s career
