Friday, April 24, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Beckham asked for ID to buy glass of wine
David Beckham was a superstar in Europe but when he moved to America a waiter demanded to see his ID and refused him a glass of wine, according to a book due out in July.
"The Beckham Experiment," by Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl, features interviews with 33-year-old Beckham and other major figures in Los Angeles Galaxy, the soccer team he joined in 2007 after a stellar career in Europe.
The move to Los Angeles with his pop star wife Victoria Beckham was the latest chapter in a life story that has mixed celebrity with athletic prowess. Beckham signed a five-year deal worth an estimated $250 million and arrived in a blaze of publicity promising to help raise soccer's profile in America.
But after an injury-plagued first season and a total of five goals during his time with the Galaxy, Beckham, 33, made clear earlier this year he preferred to play with Italian club AC Milan, where he is on loan.
Household names in Britain and the rest of Europe, the Beckhams had struggled to translate their appeal to star-heavy Los Angeles and a celebrity media obsessed with the antics of Britney Spears and the expanding family of Angelina Jolie. Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House that is part of Bertelsmann AG, said the book would provide an account of Beckham's "celebrity packaging and the inner workings of a Beckham team."
"Wahl provides a detailed account of Beckham's aspirations and worries about his American adventure, his interactions with Galaxy teammates making as little as $12,900 a year, his icy relationships with Galaxy star Landon Donovan and former team president Alexi Lalas," Crown said in a statement.
It said it would also reveal the story of how Beckham's management company, 19 Entertainment, "engineered a shadow takeover of Galaxy."
The book also features Beckham discussing the technique of his trademark bending free-kick goals, his marriage to the former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and his relationship with celebrities such as Tom Cruise.
Anecdotes include an occasion when Beckham was denied a glass of wine because he could not produce an ID document for a U.S. waiter who did not recognize him, Crown said. Many bars in the United States card people well over the age of 21, the legal age for drinking alcohol.
Beckham is currently on loan to AC Milan until the end of the Serie A season. He will then return to the Galaxy before likely going back to Italy in November.
Chelsea 4 - 4 Liverpool
Lampard settles Chelsea's nerves
Chelsea denied Liverpool the glory of another sensational European comeback to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League with a 7-5 aggregate win.Liverpool, trailing 3-1 from the first leg at Anfield, stunned the Blues with two first-half goals from Fabio Aurelio and Xabi Alonso, who scored a penalty.
Chelsea's defensive frailties, exposed so clinically by Bolton in the Premier League at the weekend, looked like costing them a place in the last four as Liverpool, without their talismanic midfielder Steven Gerrard, threatened to pull off another miracle.
But the Blues looked home and dry after producing a sensational comeback of their own - scoring three times in the second half to lead 6-3 on aggregate at one stage.
Yet this incredible contest took another twist when Liverpool scored twice in as many minutes through Lucas and Dirk Kuyt to leave them just one goal adrift of an incredible victory.
However, Frank Lampard's second in the 89th minute secured a 4-4 draw on the night and a date with Barcelona.
The home side had been outplayed in the opening 45 minutes and had barely threatened to get on the scoresheet despite coach Guus Hiddink's pre-match assertion that Chelsea would go for more goals.
They had to wait until six minutes after the break for the goal which eased the growing pressure on their ambitions of reaching the final in Rome.
Didier Drogba's effort was deflected into the back of the net by Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina and a stunning 25-yard free-kick from Brazilian defender Alex then looked to have eased any remaining worries.
When Lampard added a third in the 76th minute the tie seemed to be effectively all over, but Liverpool had other ideas.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had always maintained the first goal would be the most important but when Kuyt collected a pass from Yossi Benayoun and fired over in the 13th minute, he could have been forgiven for thinking that perhaps the task ahead was indeed far too great.
But six minutes later Liverpool were in dreamland when they punished Lampard's push on Kuyt in spectacular fashion.
With everyone expecting the free-kick from the right of goal to be pumped high into the centre of the penalty area, Aurelio stunned everyone, including the flat-footed Petr Cech, by firing his 30-yard effort straight into the bottom near corner of the net.
Referee Luis Cantalejo then rightly awarded Liverpool a penalty when Chelsea's first-leg goal hero Branislav Ivanovic clearly held back Alonso.
The Liverpool midfielder stepped up to beat Cech and suddenly the impossible seemed possible.
Chelsea had Cech to thank for keeping them on level terms on aggregate when he tipped away a header from Kuyt in the final minute of the opening half.
Hiddink's side needed a goal to take the sting out of Liverpool's motivation and it arrived somewhat fortunately in the 51st minute.
Nicolas Anelka, a 35th-minute replacement for the poor Salomon Kalou, crossed low from the right and Drogba got a touch on the ball, with Reina only able to turn it over the line.
Chelsea made it 2-2 on the night when Jamie Carragher's foul on Drogba was punished by a fierce 25-yard free-kick by Alex.
With 14 minutes remaining Liverpool's dreams looked finished when Drogba crossed for Lampard to apply the finish.
But a long-range effort from Lucas was deflected off Michael Essien and beyond Cech in the 81st minute and, somewhat astonishingly, Kuyt put Liverpool 4-3 ahead on the night with a six-yard header two minutes later.
But with Liverpool needing one more goal for a glorious victory in this emotional week on Merseyside, 20 years on from the Hillsborough disaster, Lampard ended a stunning contest with his second of the night in the last minute.
Chelsea will face Barcelona in the last four but only after Liverpool had pushed them all the way in a pulsating contest that was a marvellous showcase for English and European football.
Benitez must have wished Gerrard had been fit enough to play as his contribution may well have been the telling one, on a night when the Reds almost managed to achieve the unthinkable.
No slip-up at Stamford Bridge, insists Carvalho
Defender Ricardo Carvalho admits Chelsea's mistakes against Bolton Wanderers at the weekend will serve as a timely reminder to stay fully focused against Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The Blues shipped three goals in eight second-half minutes at Stamford Bridge against the Trotters, winning the game 4-3, and Liverpool must also score at least three goals if they are to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the quarter-final first leg.
But Carvalho - who will line up alongside Alex in the heart of the Chelsea defence in the absence of suspended captain John Terry - insists there will not be a repeat of the Bolton collapse on Tuesday.
"We have to learn from those mistakes and it is good to play three days after that game," said Carvalho. "We conceded too many when normally we are strong in our back four."
The Portugal international insists Liverpool should not be taken lightly despite the two-goal cushion.
"We have to be aware, this competition means a lot for us so we want to go through," said Carvalho. "We have to think first of ourselves and after look for them, but if you are in good shape you can win the game and go through.
"We are improving always, we had some problems in the previous months but I think you become stronger and now we are in good shape to win a competition for the club.
"I won in 2004 [with Porto] but lost last year, but to win the trophy you have to be there in the final."
Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, and yet to beat an English club away from home in Europe, much will depend on whether Liverpool's midfield talisman Steven Gerrard shakes off a groin problem to play.
But even though the Reds have not scored three goals at Stamford Bridge in two decades, Benitez would have taken heart from Bolton's performance.
But it was also the perfect wake-up call for Guus Hiddink and his squad, and the Dutch coach is determined they will not sit back and defend their lead.
"It cannot be a cautious game where you have a kind of balance in a game where nothing happens for an hour, then maybe a team takes some risks at the end," said Hiddink.
"That's not in both teams' souls. We have to go for the win at home.
"Going 4-0 up against Bolton and then conceding as we did, was like an alarm clock ringing for this up-coming game.
"We should have controlled the last part of the game. We can concede one, at 4-1, but one alarm bell is enough.
"We've prepared very seriously. A lot of people have said, if you win an away game in Europe like we did, then you won't have any concerns for the second game.
"But we're not thinking like that. Liverpool are a very good team who play beautiful football, and we're very aware of that.
"There is no such reason, whatever the team you are playing against but especially Liverpool with what they did in the past, to have complacency."
Wenger: Fabregas may move deeper
Since returning from injury the Spaniard has been playing in an advanced role, with Wenger employing a 4-2-3-1 system. However, with Arsenal struggling at Wigan Athletic on Saturday and with Fabregas being man-marked by Ben Watson, he was moved back and came into his own as the Gunners returned from 1-0 down to win 4-1.
"We dropped Cesc deeper into midfield and pushed Theo Walcott upfront," Wenger told the club's official website. "I felt that we needed a bit more creativity.
"At some stage when a guy is man-to-man marked you either push him completely upfront to create space for other players or you push him completely deep. When he's in the mid-zone and the ball comes out it becomes very difficult.
"It is a very difficult question to answer about whether that is Cesc's best position or not.
"He certainly likes to be at the start of things but then he can also give the final ball.
"I would still say the deeper role suits him more because he likes to get the ball from the centre back and he has a good long pass. That's more him than a guy who plays behind the strikers who might have more pace to penetrate.
"He is very good in the hole too but I believe that is because of the quality of his passing and less for his individual game."
Fabregas will again captain the side as Arsenal host Villarreal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday looking to build on the 1-1 draw secured in Spain last week.
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