Rome  - AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani Saturday presented David Beckham to Italian media and fans, welcoming the English star as he joins the Devils on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy

The 33-year-old Beckham is to remain at Milan until March 9, after which he will rejoin the US team in California.

"Good evening everybody and first of all a heartfelt thanks to all of you," Beckham said at a press conference at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium.

Rome  - Lazio edged out visiting Palermo 1-0 Saturday in a game that the Sicilian guests ended with ten men at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

Veteran Tommaso Rocchi came on in the second half to score the winner, deflecting home a low cross from Frenchman Mourad Meghni.

The win allowed Lazio to end a bad run that saw them notch two meagre points in five games. It moved on to sixth place on 27 points as the Serie A gears up for a three-week winter break after its 17th round.

London  - Sam Allaryce enjoyed the perfect start to his reign as Blackburn Rovers manager as his side beat Stoke City 3-0 in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Benni McCarthy scored twice and Jason Roberts got the other as Blackburn, who named Allardyce earlier in the week as replacement for the sacked Paul Ince, ended a run of six straight defeats.

Here’s sad news for Mohun Bagan fans. Due to knee and ankle injury, star striker and Mohun Bagan captain Bhaichung Bhutia has been ruled out from the team for 15-20 days.

On Sunday, Mohun Bagan has to face Dempo in the finals of the 12th Federation Cup.

During the second semifinal against East Bengal, Bhutia injured himself in the first session of the match. After the match, the Indian skipper was taken to a hospital and he underwent an MRI scan to evaluate the extent of the damage.

London, Dec 20 : European champions Manchester United and rivals Liverpool were handed relatively easy ties against Inter Milan and Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16.

The draw pits United against Jose Mourinho's Italian giants Inter while Liverpool will take on nine-times winners Real, a club repeatedly linked with Reds boss Rafael Benitez.

Chelsea also face an intriguing reunion with former manager Claudio Ranieri after being paired with Juventus while Arsenal take on Roma.

Hamburg  - If expectations were weighing heavily on the shoulders of Luis Aragones, he was not showing it. Stepping before the assembled press on the eve of the European Championship final, the coach of Spain knew it was time his country delivered.

Spain had reached the Euro 2008 final undefeated, but failure had defined the country's national football team for decades.

Not since winning the 1964 European title had Spain won a major tournament, and the national team had suffered defeat to France in the 1984 European final, the last time it had gone so far.

Now Aragones and Spain were up against the tournament team par excellence: Germany, winners of three World Cups and three European Championships.