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Morning Ticker: Beckham to train with AC Milan, Guatemala coach resigns and Arsenal injuries mount

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His MLS playoffs hopes have already been dashed, but David Beckham isn’t wasting any time making plans for the off-season.

According to reports out of Italy, Beckham will spend part of the winter training with AC Milan. The training stint will allow him to stay fit and potentially be available for selection by England national team manager Fabio Capello. It would also mean that Beckham will get a chance to train with some players who make close to the money he makes, something he hasn’t had a chance to experience since signing with MLS.

Could we see a Beckham loan to AC Milan? Between that possibility and the growing speculation that Landon Donovan will leave MLS after the season, you have to wonder just what Bruce Arena will have to work with in 2009.

Here are some other stories from today and Sunday to get your day started:

Guatemala fires head coach

Ramon Maradiaga stepped down as Guatemala’s head coach last week, shortly after Guatemala suffered a crushing 2-1 World Cup qualifying loss to Cuba in Cuba. The defeat, coupled with Trinidad & Tobago’s win against the United States, means ‘Los Chapines’ now need to beat the United States next month and have T&T lose to Cuba in order to qualify for the Hexagonal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

Don’t bet on that scenario happening.

No word yet on who will replace Maradiaga for the USA qualifier.

Toure added to Arsenal injury woes

Arsenal will head into this week’s Champions League match riding some momentum after beating Everton, but the Gunners will face Fenerbahce without Kolo Toure, who left the Everton match with a shoulder injury. Toure joins Arsenal captain William Gallas and defender Bacary Sagna on the list of injured Arsenal defenders.

Brazil wins Futsal World Cup

It came down to penalty kicks, but Brazil edged Spain in the Futsal World Cup final on Sunday. The title is the fourth for Brazil.

If you ever wondered what a Futsal penalty shootout might look like, here you go:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTHlAXDP6sQ&hl=en&fs=1]

What do you think of these stories? Can you see Beckham winding up at Milan on loan? Was Maradiaga smart to leave before Guatemala is officially eliminated from World Cup qualifying next month? Can Arsenal handled Fenerbahce without so many injured defenders?

Share your thoughts on these, and any other stories from the morning, in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Beckham isn’t going anywhere.

    worldfootballbook: Beckham is clearly more than simply an ambassador looking for a paycheck. He’s been a true pro his entire career and he’ll know when it’s time to retire from international games. If he feels he can help – and, more importantly, Capello feels the same – there’s no reason for your vitriol.

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  2. Being a die-hard Rossoneri fan, the idea of having Beckham anywhere near the pitch makes me disgusted. Beckham came to the US to sell the sport, work with kids and just be an outright ambassador for the sport – but all we’ve got is a semi-retired former star whose only clear priority is inflating his overrated international cap totals with England. That makes him a fraud, albeit a very marketable one. Now, if he wants to put his name on a jersey during offseason workouts to help push yet another cash cow to the coffers of the club … well, that’s just fine because AC Milan is making a killing with all the Ronaldinho jerseys right now. This is just another cheap stunt by his PR department trying to angle for every buck imaginable.

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  3. Considering that Beckham is the Galaxy’s meal ticket — especially if Donovan leaves for Europe — why would the Galaxy loan him out to *any* club and have him risk injury? Remember what happened last year? Besides, Beckham’s not 25 anymore; he’ll turn 34 during his third season with the Galaxy.

    The Galaxy certainly won’t sell Beckham, to Milan or any other club. The transfer fee couldn’t compensate for the revenue the Galaxy can still make off of him.

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  4. Question for Ives & you Gunner fans:

    Given all the injuries Arsenal has on defense, their lack of quality defending in the first place (the 1-0 Arsenal win seems rarely to happen) and the fact that Arsenal is money constrained, would Arsenal take a shot at Gooch during the winter transfer period?

    Gooch has shown he can defend against EPL sides, given the matches against L’pool and Everton, and since his contract is up next summer, I’m pretty sure Standard Leige won’t ask too much for him and he’s pretty good in the air.

    Just curious.

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  5. Ummm… where in the linked to article does it say that Becks is going to train with Milan?

    The only quote I saw was:

    “If Beckham would like to train with us, there wouldn’t be a problem for me,” said Ancelotti

    Based just on the attached article, isn’t it a little premature to title your article:

    “Beckham to train with AC Milan,”

    ..and to state: “Beckham will spend part of the winter training with AC Milan.”

    That’s a lot of absolutes based on a coach saying, Sure, we’d love to have him over!

    …just sayin…

    MelH

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  6. To Eugene:

    Beckham was serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation this weekend. MLS wouldn’t allow the games missed due to England National Team duty to count for his suspension. And that is where Becks was the 2nd half of the season. Playing for England on a FIFA sanctioned date that MLS doesn’t give a crap about. Just ask John Carver.

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  7. Guys, while I’m not saying Beckham is going anywhere, there are two key differences between the Arsenal training stint and the Milan one.

    Firstly, Arsenal didn’t finish second in the race to sign Beckham when he left Real Madrid last year. AC Milan did. Secondly, Beckham said he wouldn’t play for another team in the EPL, which always made Arsenal an unlikely destination. He never said such a think about Europe in general.

    Lastly, Beckham has now had a chance to endure the super-long MLS off-season a year ago and could theoretically be concerned about maintaining his form. He could go on loan from January until the end of April.

    Again, I’m not saying it’s happening, but it wouldn’t shock me.

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  8. Where was Beckham for the 2nd half of the MLS season? And for this weekend’s game for that matter?

    ‘Cause he certainly wasn’t contributing for LA. MLS better take a close look at what’s happening with him, because while he’s making the league a lot of money, his on the field contribution has recently become crap and the European media is blaming his decline on MLS.

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  9. kpugs, nobody said anything about Beckham leaving for good. What are you talking about? He’s got 3 seasons left on his contract, and he’s gonna play them out. And I’m fairly certain the Galaxy are glad you’re not one of their fans too.

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  10. I don’t think Beckham will leave MLS just yet.

    If he does, it won’t be on loan (well…not a short loan anyway). It will be permanent, or at least for a couple of seasons. No one can play year-round football and be effective. It cost Tim Howard his career at Man United.

    Put yourself in Beckham’s shoes. You can the big fish in the small pond making oodles of money playing for a joke of a franchise in MLS, a franchise that cannot win despite the league literally changing rules and granting them “special” circumstances to try to get them a title.

    Or you can still be a decent sized fish in a big pond, still make oodles of money playing for a top European club that is at least in contention for several trophies every season.

    Beckham’s a loyal guy. I can definitely see him honoring his full MLS contract. But nothing is certain and let’s face it, the Galaxy are now the joke of MLS, even more so than the teams with worse records. When the league does all it can to give you a championship aside from just handing you the trophy and you still can’t win, well, I’m just glad I’m not a Galaxy fan.

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  11. I think it would be great if Beckham went out on loan to ACM. Raise the profile of MLS, raise his game which helps MLS, and keeps in the England squad – another plus for MLS. The question is – does he really NOT want a break?

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