David Beckham will tread a familiar path once the MLS season is over, joining AC Milan on loan again for a five-month loan spell from January.

Milan have just announced the deal on their website (just in Italian for now), meaning any lingering hopes Premier League clubs had of changing the England midfielder’s mind have finally been dashed.

Milan sound thrilled:

“We are very happy to David Beckham in the red and black shirt again after the splendid experience of last season,” Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani told www.acmilan.com.

“We are sure that this period in Europe will help the player to take part in the next World Cup and then to continue his career at Los Angeles Galaxy, whom we thank for their help.”

Beckham’s main target is obviously the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, as the Milan chief hints. Wonder if he’ll be on the plane…

PHOTO: Los Angeles Galaxy’s David Beckham walks on the field during Game 1 of their MLS Cup western conference semifinal soccer playoff series against Chivas USA in Carson, California, November 1, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

The US national team beat European champions Spain in the Confederations Cup and give Brazil a scare in the final. In the NFL heartland of Baltimore, 71,000 turn out to watch Chelsea v AC Milan.

In Pasadena, Chelsea v Inter Milan pulls in 81,000.

David Beckham gets booed and jeered on his return for L.A Galaxy and the American sporting public laps it up – top sports talk shows, which usually ignore soccer other than to mock the game occasionally, lead their bulletins on the issue.

Giants Stadium in New York sells out with 79,000 for USA v Mexico in the Gold Cup final – even though both teams field reserve sides.

There is more to come — Real Madrid and Barcelona are about to start mini-tours of the U.S. that will bring in similar huge crowds.

In Major League Soccer, the Seattle Sounders average 30,000 for home games in their first season. Philadelphia and Vancouver sign up to became the next teams to join the league.

Television stations now battle for rights to Europe’s Champions League – which will be broadcast on the Fox Soccer Channel while ESPN is already running trailers for next year’s World Cup finals.

No wonder, the Wall Street Journal asks Are Americans Becoming Soccer Fans? Well, are they?

The numbers are impressive and are hard to ignore but it is worth noting, as U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati did this week, that the games that are attracting such huge crowds involve the absolute cream of the crop.

“Clearly we are not getting those attendances at MLS games, and it is an important question as to how we can tap into what is clearly an audience for high-level international games.

“It’s a little bit chasing stars if we think most teams around the world would draw those sorts of attendances. If we were to have a tournament next summer with Stuttgart, Aston Villa, Olympique Marseille and pick another team, I don’t think we’d have those same sorts of attendances.

“The teams that have come are two of the glory teams in Real Madrid and Barcelona, two or three of the top English and Italian teams, really the best teams in the world and biggest stars,” he said.

Nonetheless, the idea that soccer is alien or foreign to Americans or that the game somehow needs to be altered to appeal to those used to the NFL or NBA has been shown to be the nonsense that it is. (more…)

He was supposed to be the man who would take soccer in the United States to the next level yet David Beckham is in danger of becoming an embarrassing liability to the game in the country.

On a weekend when 65,000 people turned out for a friendly match in Seattle, 82,000 watched a Gold Cup game in Dallas and the U.S. national team continued their impressive form with another victory, the soccer news was all about Beckham being booed by his own fans.

The fans wrote their own headlines — “Go Home Fraud” read one bluntly worded banner draped over a section of the Galaxy stadium while another made the point in a more eloquent manner: “Hey Becks, here before you, here after you, here despite you”.

American soccer fans were not supposed to be following L.A Galaxy despite Beckham — the plan was they would fall in love with the team because of the celebrity midfielder.

A significant section of the L.A. fans have turned against Beckham for one simple reason — he turned his back on them.

Beckham’s decision to spend the Major League Soccer (MLS) off-season, from January to March, playing on loan for AC Milan in Italy, was grudgingly accepted at the time it was announced. When he decided to stay until the end of the Serie A season and so miss the first half of the MLS campaign it was a different matter.

Sports pundit Jay Mariotti, a regular on radio and television sports talk shows, wrote on Monday: “Beckham came here two years ago intending to lift Major League Soccer to unprecedented heights, but when he abruptly abandoned his stated mission in January for more prestigious duty in his native Europe, his purported goal became phony and rather pathetic.”

Perhaps, the 34-year-old could have patched up things with his fans, and other supporters of the game in the U.S, if he had returned and apologised for letting them down.

Instead Beckham, whose professionalism and commitment had been questioned by his team mate Landon Donovan, in a new book, thought that making up with Donovan would be enough of a gesture. It clearly was not.

LOAN DEAL
On his return, Beckham could have told the L.A fans: “I am sorry for letting you and the team down but I really felt I needed to finish the season in Italy. Now though I am back with you and 100 percent committed to this club”.

He could not say that, however, as he is already eyeing another six-month loan deal to Europe, perhaps to Milan, perhaps to an English team.

“At the moment all I’m concentrating on is being part of this team (L.A) and being successful with this team. Once the season is over, then I will decide and decide what I do from then on,” he said last week.

It is hardly the kind of talk to convince fans he really cares about the long-term future of their team.

What is occupying Beckham’s mind is the need to keep himself in the good books of England manager Fabio Capello, who the midfielder says wants to see him playing in Europe before next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

“Leading up to the World Cup, the England manager has made it very clear to me that I need to be playing at a European level,” he told reporters last week. “So I will do everything possible… I’ll always regret it if I didn’t do everything and to give myself a chance to be involved in that.”

The puzzling aspect is why, if Beckham’s number one priority is playing for England in the World Cup, he chose to come and play in Major League Soccer at all?

Perhaps it was the appointment of Capello that changed things — in which case, why has Beckham not sought a permanent transfer away from Galaxy to a club in Europe?

Major League Soccer faces a tough task in establishing its credibility among sports fans in the United States as a serious professional league and Beckham, rather than showing this is a league that attracts quality foreign players, is merely adding to the belief of some that MLS is not something to be taken too seriously.

There was one positive for MLS that came out of Sunday’s anti-Beckham protests: the Galaxy fans showed the world that they are not star-struck kids in awe of the celebrity Beckham but are as passionate, loyal — and as rude — as fans anywhere else in the world.

Fans of Manchester United or Real Madrid would not put up with one of their top players spending half the season with another team in another league and Galaxy supporters showed they do not accept such an arrangement either.

Boos and protests, while headline grabbing, are not good for any team or any league. The question now is how long Beckham, Galaxy and the MLS are prepared to let the situation continue.

Florentino Perez is back on the scene and if the Madrid sports press are right the first ‘Galactico’ of his second era at Real Madrid will be Brazil’s Kaka, assuming he wins next month’s election to the presidency.

“Kaka signed” Marca said on a special wrap-around front cover for Saturday’s edition, while AS led with “Kaka, the details of the agreement.”

There was little evidence given to substantiate the stories, which spoke of a five-year deal agreed with the player and a transfer fee of around 60 million euros agreed with Milan, all linked to a Florentino victory.

On Thursday, Florentino formally declared he would enter the race for the presidency and spoke of plans for a “spectacular sporting project”. He said details would be forthcoming in the near future but his answers to questions were carefully designed to tip the wink.

When asked whether Kaka was on his agenda, Perez was charm personified as he replied with a smile: “I am a friend of (Milan’s vice-president) Adriano Galliani. We often speak to each other.

“Sometimes we talk about football, but you’ll have to wait until the election.”

This sort of talk is music to the ears of Real Madrid fans who are desperate for a return to the glamour of his previous six-year tenure when vast sums were splashed to lure Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Bernabeu.

If timing is everything, the Kaka ‘revelations’ on the Saturday Barcelona could well wrap up the Primera Liga title, are the perfect tonic for downcast Madrid fans.

Also, the reported deal for Kaka is a perfect dig at former president Ramon Calderon, whose resignation back in January precipitated the new election. Calderon was elected to the post in 2006 on the back of a promise to sign Kaka — something he failed to do and something fans never allowed him to forget.

Florentino overshadows the other three candidates being tipped to stand when the registration period opens on May 21.

His media pull is reflected in the fact that Marca, Spain’s biggest selling newspaper, devoted the first 16 pages of Friday’s edition to coverage of his formal entry to the race.

Before the vote is held on June 14, expect further revelations, correct or not, with regards to Franck Ribery, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arsene Wenger among others — not from Florentino directly, but from his cheerleaders in the Madrid-based sports press.

GALACTICOS NEW AND OLD?: AC Milan’s David Beckham (R) and his teammate Kaka speak during a news conference before their friendly match against Albania in Tirana May 12, 2009. REUTERS/Arben Celi

With the new Star Trek film out, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and see which soccer players could play the famous characters.

They’ve changed all the actors anyway and brought in a youthful crop, so why not?

Over at Kottke.org, they’ve already done it with NBA players. Captain Kirk is Tony Parker they reckon.

Reuters resident Trekkies Kevin Fylan and Alison Wildey had a bash at a soccer version but please come up with your own ideas in the comments below.

1. David Beckham as Kirk (if not John Terry or Steven Gerrard)

2. Someone logical and Germanic as Spock, so maybe Arsene Wenger

3. Scotty would have to be a little powerhouse who fixes it just in time like Maradona (or a Scotsman like Archie Gemmill)

4. Bones is tricky. Are there any doctors in football? Dr Josef Venglos? Did Norman Whiteside go off and get a physio qualification?

5. We need the guy in red who gets shot at the start of each episode. Darren Fletcher?

PHOTO: Cast member Zachary Quinto poses at the premiere of the movie “Star Trek” at the Grauman’s Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California April 30, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Ukraine coach Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko said his players had been overawed by the Wembley atmosphere in their 2-1 World Cup defeat by England but their nerves must have been based on the twin-towered mystique of the old stadium rather than the soulless feeling of the new.

At a cost of 800 million pounds ($1.15 billion), the new Wembley undoubtedly looks impressive and there was no hint of the credit crunch as the wine flowed in the packed private dining suites before the game.

Out in the seats, however, any hope of building a rip-roaring atmosphere before the game continues to be undone by the FA’s obsession with deafening announcements.

In the 30 minutes before kick off on Wednesday fans were treated to a spoof comedy show involving the England players, a lengthy film pleading for respect for referees in amateur football — including the chance to receive the FA’s own guide to parental behaviour — and pleas for the fans to respect the national anthems.

There were also the obligatory sales pitches for the new England kit, available now for “just 50 pounds ($72.76).

By the time the players kicked off, the near-90,000 supporters in the stadium appeared to be relishing the peace rather than getting behind their heroes (although Wayne Rooney said he was happy enough with the noise).

England fans bow to no-one when it comes to the noise they make at tournaments, but on home soil they are second division in comparison with the likes of Turkey and Croatia, who have their stadiums rocking hours before kick-off.

The result on Wednesday was a subdued atmosphere that seeped onto the pitch as England produced a flat performance.

Hanging on to Peter Crouch’s 39th-minute opener, their 100 percent start to the campaign looked to be over when Andriy Shevchenko levelled after 74 minutes.

Only then did the players rouse themselves and, helped by some belated crowd encouragement, claimed their win through captain John Terry five minutes from time.

So often in the past we have seen transfer deals go through simply because the player asks to leave. Clubs fear the players won’t play to their full potential if their wish is denied so they cave in and take the transfer fee.

But recently, some clubs have started fighting back against player power and have been rewarded.

David Beckham asked to stay at AC Milan permanently but Los Angeles Galaxy were having none of it, especially when the Italians first offered a low sum the Americans said was “ridiculous”.

Galaxy stuck to their guns and have managed to get Beckham back for at least July until November.

A similar story happened last year when fellow England midfielder Gareth Barry wanted to go to Liverpool but Aston Villa would not budge on their asking price. He is still at Villa and could stay for good if they make the Champions League this season.

Are we seeing a new hard ball approach from selling clubs?   

PHOTO: AC Milan’s David Beckham controls the ball against Al-Sadd during the Jafal Rashed testimonial soccer match at the Jassim Bin Hamad stadium in Doha March 4, 2009. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad

The prospect of former Real Madrid player David Beckham lining up against a new Barcelona-Miami franchise was a soccer marketing man’s dream — the most marketable man in the game against one of the biggest team brands, playing in the ‘capital of the Americas’.

A couple of months ago that scenario looked on the cards, with Beckham tied into a long-term deal with the L.A Galaxy and Barcelona’s Miami bid for a 2011 MLS expansion slot widely considered a ‘shoe in’.

Now, though, Barcelona’s bid is dead in the water  and Beckham, enjoying his football with Milan in Serie A, is doing his utmost to avoid having to return to the U.S.

MLS, Barcelona and Miami-based Bolivian businessman Marcelo Claure made a joint announcement that cited “adverse market conditions” as the reason behind the decision to halt their bid.

No specifics were mentioned although one has to wonder whether Barca and Claure were put off by MLS’s $40 million expansion fee. It takes a lot of money to set up a professional soccer operation and to hand over that amount of cash, as a membership fee, in the current economic climate, could be viewed as a deterrent.

If you read MLS Commissioner Don Garber, however – and it was not so long ago that he said the Miami bid was taking the expansion process to “the next level” – you have the impression it was the league that pulled the plug on the ambitious project.

“We are convinced Miami is a soccer market but we are not convinced it is an MLS market at this point and for the stability of the league we had to make sure we made a smart decision that didn’t come back to haunt us later,” he said.

Miami certainly is a natural home for soccer. The city has a large, young population of Latin Americans who grow up, whether here or in their initial homelands, on a diet of high quality South American football. Local viewing figures for international soccer are high — especially for a city without a large Mexican population.

Aside from Latin Americans, there are the immigrant populations from soccer-mad Haiti and Jamaica and on a lesser scale to the north of Miami, the newer arrivals from Eastern Europe — Russians, Poles and Romanians — who love the round ball game.

Along with that ethnic mix, there is a small but solid base of fans from the days when Miami did have an MLS team, the Fusion, who drew a reasonable average crowd of 11,000 before the league decided to contract and closed down them. There are even some who remember the days of the NASL teams in Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

What a fabulous cosmopolitan mix of supporters a successful Miami MLS team could have. It is, as Garber puts it ‘a soccer market’ but we won’t know if it is an MLS market until the league allows a team in the area.

There are, however, good reasons behind Garber’s caution and Linda Robertson in the Miami Herald highlights most of them here — never mind soccer, Miami is a tough market for baseball and the NBA to crack and the NFL’s Dolphins are the only franchise to have a truly broad and loyal fan base.

It is often said that the Spanish speaking soccer fans in South Florida are too happy watching Argentine, Brazilian or Colombian league action on television and don’t show much sign of interest in MLS.

But, the MLS, cannot be considered a Major League when the fourth biggest state in the country, with a population of over 18 million people, doesn’t have a team.

I should declare an interest here. I am a soccer fan and I live in South Florida and I really wanted to see an MLS team in this city. While I had reservations about the notion of ‘FC Barcelona-Miami’ (the importing of a ‘soccer brand’ grated and I thought such a name would devalue both Barca and Miami), I was excited about the prospect of know-how from a top European club being applied to a city that could, potentially, fall in love with a professional soccer team.

That isn’t going to happen now but out of the disappointment there might just be an interesting twist.

Miami already has a professional football team in Miami FC who play in the second tier United Soccer Leagues and they could get some badly needed support from the disappointment of MLS’s decision.

The club, which is backed by Traffic Sports, big players in South American soccer and sports marketing, were formed in 2006 but they have so far failed to build a major fan base. The USL is a weird league, featuring some clubs, such as Montreal, who enjoy MLS-level support and who, along with Puerto Rico, have actually enjoyed more success then MLS teams in CONCACAF’s Champions League.

They have teams in states where the MLS isn’t present, like North Carolina and Georgia and they are the league where the Seattle Sounders enjoyed so much success that MLS snapped them up.

Traffic Sports threatened recently to pull the plug on Miami FC unless it got at least 5,000 season ticket sales by this weekend. I am told they are serious about that threat but the end of the Barca bid might just have touched a nerve.

As one internet commenter put it: “I haven’t really supported Miami FC but if they do survive, I am prepared to start supporting that club regularly to spite MLS.”

While I am writing this post, an email arrives from the club stating that the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce has passed a motion supporting professional soccer in the city. Another recent message informs that at the weekend, the ‘Miami Ultras’, the fans of Miami FC are hosting a 24 hour ‘Soccer-thon’ to build support for the club.

There isn’t going to be Beckham v Barca in Miami but having spent my youth watching lower division football in England and my mid-twenties in small crowds watching Hungarian football, I know you can have a lot of enjoyment without the big-names and the big crowds.

As any coach will tell a player who has been left out of the team, the best response is to knuckle down and prove your worth. Miami now has to show it is worth a place in the game.

Come on you Blues…

PHOTO: A tattooed David Beckham is seen as he plays against Toronto FC in an MLS soccer match in Carson, California April 13, 2008. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

David Beckham was roundly booed when he was booked for dissent in Seville on Wednesday but most of the local fans had their tongues firmly in their cheeks given there is a good deal of affection in Spain for the former Real Madrid midfielder.

His feat in equalling Bobby Moore’s England outfield appearance record of 108 is impressive to the Spanish, whose most-capped non-goalkeeper is Beckham’s former Real colleague Raul with 102, followed by Fernando Hierro on 89.

“Beckham is a real gentleman and definitely one of England’s all-time greats,” said Manuel Conde, 27, an unemployed Real fan from Cordoba.

“He always gives everything in the matches and he’s the complete player. It would have been better if he’d stayed in Madrid,” he added.

“Beckham is very handsome and he is playing well in Milan,” said a beaming Ana Sanchez Bernal, a 20-year-old sports science student from Seville and a striker on a local ladies’ soccer team.

Real-supporting student Fernando Pinelo had a more down-to-earth view of the Beckham phenomenon but was nonetheless full of praise.

“He’s not really a football player, more of a merchandising tool,” the 27-year-old said while sipping a beer in a bar near the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium after Spain’s 2-0 win.

“Maybe as a player he’s not one of the best anymore but I like him as a person,” he said. “He’s always very generous with the fans.”

My former colleague Simon Baskett, who covered Beckham during his four years at Real, once described him as Bobby Moore, Princess Diana and Paris Hilton all rolled into one.

Although he struggled with Spanish, never advancing much beyond his two favourite phrases “impresionante” and “muy bueno,” it seems he is one English visitor to Spain who is widely remembered with fondness.

To celebrate the launch of the new sports blog we're reviving a feature from View from the Bird's Nest and posting a picture of the day from the Reuters file.

Sports Pictures Editor Greg Bos has chosen the first pic, a shot of David Beckham from Spanish photographer Marcelo del Pozo. Over to Greg...

"The reason I like this picture is because of the mildly comical view of David Beckham, aged 32, leading the other England players with a big leg kick during a training session in Seville. He was no doubt aware of all the photographers present and kicked a little higher to get their attention. Like him or loathe him, Beckham is still a constant presence in English football as he closes in on Bobby Moore's record for most caps for an outfield player."