Former England captain David Beckham believes he can add experience to England at next year’s World Cup in South Africa.
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday, the former England captain explained that his sights are set firmly on the global soccer showpiece in Africa as well as AC Milan’s quest to return to next season’s Champions League.
Milan spent a year in purgatory in the UEFA Cup this season after finishing fifth in Serie A last time out and failing to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.
But most important for him is the World Cup and Beckham believes he still has a lot to offer.
“My experience for one, because it’s a young team,” he said. “For me it would be enough just to be useful to the team and to keep working with [Fabio] Capello, who has changed our mentality. We needed that.”
At club level, Beckham would love to see out his career next season with a Champions League final against his former club Manchester United, although he admitted he would find it difficult playing against the team he supported as a boy.
“It would be a problem, but if next season there was a Milan-Manchester final, I would want to win, even if I support United,” he said. “This season I would like to see Manchester play Barcelona. My former colleagues would win, because right now United are too good for everyone. Even if Liverpool with [Steven] Gerrard, one of the best in the world, are dangerous.”
Beckham will stay at Milan until the end of the season before returning to the Los Angeles Galaxy for the rest of this year’s Major League Soccer season.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in