Beckham wins Spanish title with Real Madrid, then moves to LA Galaxy

David Beckham finally won a title with Real Madrid, regained his place on the England team and jumped to Major League Soccer in 2007.

Sadly for the Los Angeles Galaxy fans who waited six months for his arrival, Beckham got so little playing time because of injuries they must have wondered what all the fuss was about. “I never had so many injuries in a short space of time,” said the former England captain, who signed a four-year contact with the Galaxy. “It’s been tough (going from) where I used to play every day in Europe to missing half of the season.”

After being dropped both by England and Real Madrid, Beckham returned to top form and regained his places in both teams. His arrival in American soccer on a base annual salary of US$5.5 million was announced in January but didn’t happen until July, when he hobbled into MLS with an ankle injury.

Beckham made six MLS appearances, including four starts, and scored one goal with a trademark free kick against D.C. United. But his season ended early because the Galaxy failed to qualify for the MLS playoffs.

All Beckham had left were friendly games in Australia and New Zealand.

At least Beckham finished his four years with Madrid a winner. After three seasons without a trophy, Madrid took its record number of Spanish league titles to 30 by taking the championship from 18-time winner FC Barcelona.

With Samuel Eto’o injured and Ronaldinho out of form, Barcelona also lost its Champions League title to AC Milan, which beat Liverpool 2-1 in the final in Athens, Greece, to take its number of triumphs in European soccer’s most prestigious club competition to seven.

Barcelona responded by buying Thierry Henry from Arsenal in the year’s other big transfer. But the France star, slowed by a lingering back injury, is yet to repeat the form he showed with the Gunners, and Madrid is again dominating the Spanish title race. The new Spanish season began with tragedy on the opening day, however.

Sevilla left back Antonio Puerta died of heart problems at 22 after the game against Getafe. UEFA has ordered players to have heart checks before the European Championship and team doctors to sit alongside coaches on the bench.

Although the richest clubs were again busy in the transfer market, there were even more changes off the field. Chelsea parted ways with Jose Mourinho when it became clear his relations with owner Roman Abramovich were harming the team.

After two Premier League titles in a row, the Blues lost the title to Manchester United, giving Alex Ferguson his 20th title in charge of the Red Devils. It should have been 21 but Chelsea beat United 1-0 in the first FA Cup final to be played at rebuilt Wembley Stadium, which finally opened two years late.

That gave Mourinho a sweep of domestic English trophies, but he left in September and was replaced by former Israel coach Avram Grant. In December, Mourinho turned down the opportunity of coaching England’s national team, a vacancy created when Steve McClaren was fired for failing to get the team to Euro 2008.

The England job went to Fabio Capello, who guided Madrid to the Spanish title to add to his successes in Italy. Critics were furious that the Football Association appointed a foreigner instead of an English coach.

The man McClaren replaced after the 2006 World Cup, Sven-Goran Eriksson, returned to the game as coach of Manchester City. The Swede was appointed at the same time City was bought by former Thailand premier Thaksin Shinawatra, exiled in London and charged in his homeland with corruption by the regime that ousted him.

Liverpool was another big clubs to fall into foreign ownership. George Gillett Jr., owner of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, and Tom Hicks, owner of baseball’s Texas Rangers and hockey’s Dallas Stars, bought the club in March and are financing a move away from Anfield to a 60,000-capacity stadium to be built by 2009. With foreign investors buying big chunks of clubs, almost half the Premier League is now in the hands of overseas owners, who see the spinoffs from lucrative new TV rights deals.

Italian soccer, by contrast, had another dispiriting year while it was only just recovering from a match-fixing scandal. Despite the national team’s World Cup triumph in 2006 and Milan’s Champions League success, violence became almost a weekly problem.

A policeman was clubbed to death in early February during rioting in Sicily between rival fans of Catania and Palermo. The Italian federation briefly put the season on hold and ordered some clubs to play in empty stadiums.

In November, a police officer accidentally shot and killed a Lazio fan while trying to break up trouble at a freeway service station, an incident that prompted violence at other games. The officer has been charged with murder.

Relegated because of the match-fixing scandal and forced to hand over the 2006 league title to Inter Milan by default, Juventus strolled to the Serie B title and promotion. Inter won the 2007 title on the field by 22 points. AC Milan, also punished over match-fixing, couldn’t make up its eight-point deduction and finished fourth.

While former France great Michel Platini became the new UEFA president, beating the long-serving Lennart Johansson in an election, the unopposed Sepp Blatter got another four-year term as FIFA president.

Blatter maintained that South Africa would overcome logistical problems to host a successful 2010 World Cup despite strikes holding up the construction of some of the stadiums.

Brazil won the right to hold the 2014 World Cup after its only opponent, Colombia, withdrew, but now has to convince FIFA that it has the money to refurbish its own rundown stadiums. The five-time World Cup champions also captured their second straight Copa America title by beating Argentina 3-0 in the final in July.

Brazil played without forwards Kaka and Ronaldinho, who pulled out of the championship citing fatigue. Kaka went on to win both the FIFA world player of the year award and Europe’s Golden Ball. The Brazilian women fell just short, however.

Germany retained the women’s World Cup, beating Brazil 2-0 in the final in Shanghai, China, in a championship played before near capacity crowds. The United States took third place.

21 foreign players for PHL’s fourth edition

The fourth edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL) will see 21 foreign players playing for seven different teams. The tournament is starting Dec 20.

Explaining the format, Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President K.P.S. Gill said: “The international contingent from the Netherlands, Pakistan and South Korea have been allocated to the seven participating teams after detailed discussions with the respective state associations.

“We have taken utmost care to ensure that all the teams are equally balanced so that the spectators get to see quality hockey. The format change this year will also add to the interest and there will no room for complacency for any team.”

Of the total 21 foreign players, 10 will be from the Netherlands, eight from Pakistan and three from South Korea.

“This is a very important season for us – with the Olympics qualifiers just three months away the quality match exposure the India aspirants will get during the league will definitely help in our preparations,” added Gill.

Maurits Hendriks, PHL technical consultant, said: “PHL has helped the hockey fraternity promote the game not only in India but also in other countries – globally the league has become so popular that it has actually inspired the launch of the European Hockey League earlier this year.”

Hendriks also said that some changes have been made in the fourth edition of the PHL to enforce better discipline.

“The most significant rule change is that even a green card will mean that the erring player will not be allowed to participate in the game for a period of two minutes. This I am sure will deter players from any rough play,” said Hendriks.

Indian cricketers angry over $1.5m tax bouncer

INDIA’S cricket tour of Australia erupted in controversy last night as its players learned they would be slugged $1.5 million by the Australian Taxation Office.

Sources said the tax grab had angered India’s superstars, including Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Their match payments and tour fees are not taxed in India, where they are treated by financial authorities as amateurs.

The tax slug is further fuel for a potentially explosive series against Australia. The MCG is expected to be packed next Wednesday for the start of the Boxing Day Test.

Indian and Australian players clashed several times during a one-day series on the subcontinent in October, when all-rounder Andrew Symonds was labelled “monkey man” by the crowds.

India’s newfound confidence springs from its Twenty20 World Cup success this year. The Board of Cricket Control of India rewarded its stars with more than $2 million in bonuses.

Among other gifts, a Porsche 911 was handed to team hero Yuvraj Singh as a personal present from Vice-President Lalit Modi.  The Indians have not been taxed on previous tours. But a change in Australian laws since they were last here in 2003-04 has left the tourists flabbergasted.

Since July 2004, all sportspeople and entertainers who work in Australia have had to pay tax.

The BCCI tried to get an exemption, and is still investigating ways around the red tape. India’s media manager, Dr M.K. Shridhar, last night confirmed the BBCI was investigating the tax matter.

“This taxation issue is being handled by our office in Bombay,” he said. “We are taking the position of what our own tax consultants at the BCCI say.

“Cricket Australia is helping, and they will work together and come back to us with a solution. Then I am not very sure if it will still apply.”

India’s stars are treated like royalty at home, and are some of cricket’s wealthiest players. Tendulkar alone is said to be worth millions. The Indians are taxed only on sponsorship earnings in their home country.

In Australia, it is believed they will forfeit about $500,000 from the Test series, and $1 million from the one-day series and the one-off Twenty20 clash at the MCG, in tax.

Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young said the board’s memorandum of understanding meant the Indians had to follow Australian laws.

“When you are in Australia, the Australian tax law applies,” he said.

The tourists will play four Tests against Australia, beginning on Boxing Day at the MCG, a Twenty20 match, and up to 11 one-day internationals before heading home in March.