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Beckham uncertain if he will face United

• Midfielder unsure if he will make team for European tie• Ferguson says he knows how to handle former United hero"Without a doubt, it's one of the biggest games for me. I've never had to do it before like this but I don't think it will be a problem," says David Beckham of the match of...

Barcelona are calling out to Fábregas

Arsène Wenger may need more than the offer of hope to keep the midfield magician at the EmiratesArsenal's cognoscenti say that when Cesc Fábregas plays a pass "the ball has information on it". This means that the little maestro is not just playing his own game but is controlling his...

No better time to catch Capello's eye

Candidates for the fabled late run to England's World Cup squad are in short supplyAdam Johnson must have set some sort of record last week. After moving from Middlesbrough at the end of the transfer window, the winger started his first game for Manchester City against Bolton on Tuesday, and was...

World Cup fraudsters to be targeted by new cyber-enforcement team

Online ticket sales to South African tournament will be policed in crackdown on internet scamsWebsites selling fake tickets for this summer's World Cup finals in South Africa are to become part of the focus of a new cyber-enforcement team set up by the government to crack down on internet and email...

World Cup may trigger early general election in Zimbabwe

MDC hopes to use global spotlight on South Africa to ensure Robert Mugabe runs a fair and non-violent pollOpponents of President Robert Mugabe have demanded early elections in Zimbabwe, timed to coincide with the World Cup being staged in neighbouring South Africa.The demand by the Movement for...

It's despair, not grief, that can lead to suicide | Carole Cadwalladr

The stories linking Alexander McQueen's death to his mother's are coming to the wrong conclusionWhat was it that drove Alexander McQueen to such depths of despair that he took his own life? It's the question at the heart of any suicide, one that only one person can answer. And that person is dead....

Fuller flavour forces City to acquire the taste for a replay

Just by looking at their managers, you could tell these were clubs with different approaches to football. With his suit and beautifully-tailored overcoat, Roberto Mancini looked ready for an evening stroll along Milan's Via Montenapoleone. In his tracksuit and peaked cap, Tony Pulis looked...

Geoff Thomas: How a midfield dynamo became a tour de force

There was a time when it seemed the defining moment of Geoff Thomas's life might be his most embarrassing. It came on 19 February 1992, the night of his ninth and final appearance for England, when he tried to catch out the France goalkeeper Gilles Rousset with a 30-yard lob but succeeded only in...