Milan  - AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday said that former England captain David Beckham would not be starting Sunday's Serie A game against Roma.

London  - Aston Villa continued their quest for a Champions League place as they beat local rivals West Bromwich Albion 2-1 on Saturday to move into third place in the English Premier League.

Curtis Davies and an own goal by goalkeeper Scott Carson were enough to give Villa victory and move them above Manchester United and to within one point of second-placed Chelsea.

Davies headed the opening goal against his former side, getting on the end of Gareth Barry's cross after 19 minutes.

Villa dominated the first half and doubled their lead four minutes before the break when Gabriel Agbonlahor's shot was turned into his own net by Carson.

Hamburg - Brazilian midfielder Alex Silva will miss the German Bundesliga football rest

Mumbai, Jan. 10 (ANI): A new reality television series will begin scouting for footballing talent in India.

According to a report in the Times, as far as the promotion of the sport is concerned, India is being seen as the "last great frontier".

The paper says that the winners of the Soccer Prince competition will be offered apprenticeships with English teams likely to include Liverpool, the current leaders of the Barclays Premier League.

London, Jan 10 : Ace Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has reached a verbal agreement with Florentino Pérez, the former Real Madrid president, to join the Spanish club.

Ronaldo made this agreement through his agent Jorge Mendes. It is understood that Pérez will use this promise when he stands for election as Real president in 2010, The Times reported.

There is a growing conviction in Madrid that the Manchester United and Portugal forward will sign for the Spanish champions at some point, a view reiterated by Pepe, the Real defender who is a Portugal teammate of Ronaldo.

"He has shown he wants to come here with the statements he has made. We'll see if he still desires to join us this summer," Pepe said.

London  - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez slammed Sir Alex Ferguson on Friday, accusing the Manchester United manager of being the only one who can criticise referees without punishment.

The Spaniard, whose side sit three points clear at the top of the table, said Ferguson was wrong to criticise the fixture list, which, he said, actually favoured United in the second half of the season.