Injured Beckham to Miss World Cup

Monday, 15th March 2010 at 12:10pm

David Beckham's dream of becoming the first Englishman to appear in four World Cup tournaments suffered a fatal blow yesterday when he suffered a long-term injury playing in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo.

The former England captain left the field on a stretcher and the San Siro on crutches before it was confirmed that the 34-year-old had torn his Achilles tendon, an injury that is likely to keep him out of action for a minimum of three months and should signal the end of his international career.

Beckham, England's most capped outfield player, joined Milan in January on loan from LA Galaxy in a bid to prove to Fabio Capello that he was worthy of a place in the Italian's final 23.

Given his age, it is unlikely that Beckham will ever play for England again.

John Terry

Milan won the game after Beckham departed with veteran Clarence Seedorf scoring a 91st minute goal to seal the win and close the gap on city rivals Inter Milan to just a single point.

With a Champions League second leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, Inter's match against Catania was moved to Saturday.

Jose Mourinho's men took a second half lead with a goal from Diego Milito, but the home side stormed back, scoring three times in the final 16 minutes to condemn Inter, who finished with 10 men following the dismissal of Sulley Muntari, to just their third defeat of the season.

In the Premier League, Chelsea returned to the summit temporarily on Saturday, when they comfortably beat West ham 4-1 at Stamford Bridge, Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United returned to the top of the table on Sunday, following a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Fulham.

In-form striker Wayne Rooney scored twice, taking his tally to 32 for the season, as United climbed back to the summit, albeit having played a game more.

Arsenal kept up the pressure on Ancelotti and Ferguson's men, with a 2-1 win away at Hull.

Andrei Arshavin gave Wenger's men an early lead, but a failure to capitalise on their early dominance gave Hull a way back into the match and the home side and they grabbed an equaliser through a Jimmy Bullard penalty.

It looked set to be a frustrating evening for Wenger until Nicklas Bendtner grabbed a late winner to draw the Gunners level on points with Chelsea.

In Spain, a hat trick from Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuan and a strike from Cristiano Ronaldo helped league leaders Real Madrid to a comfortable 4-1 win away at Valladolid.

Barcelona kept the pressure up on their illustrious rivals thanks to a 3-0 win at home to Valencia. Argentine star Lionel Messi scored a hat trick at the Nou Camp as Barcelona trail Madrid by goal difference.

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