The next World Cup winners

Great comedy entertainment on ITV tonight (and its not often I find myself saying that). I switched on after 20 minutes or so to witness In-ger-land being outplayed for a good quarter of an hour... by Belarus, following their scraped early goal. Meanwhile the Wembley crowd have been using a Mexican Wave just to stay awake. Can't see David Beckham being threatened by this "youthful promise". South Africa 2010? It can't go wrong!

(As a footnote, Beckham comes on just short of the hour for his 115th cap. Corner from him. Goal. Quite.)
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Passion and grace

Who said Italian football was defensive and dull? While not everything in Serie A compares to this, tonight's buzzing clash between Inter and Milan at the imposing Stadio Giuseppe Meazza provided a feast of entertainment and numerous discussion points - after a somewhat stop-go start laced with niggling fouls. Thankfully, though, the derby passion didn't boil over into long-term recrimination.

As a game, this was superior to almost anything I've seen in England's self-appointed "best league in the world" this season, notwithstanding sparkling moments from Manchester United and (earlier on) Arsenal. Fabulous technique, exquisite touches, robust challenges, flowing moves, really good goals, near misses and several fine saves. It had a bit of everything.

AC Milan can count themselves unlucky not to have claimed a point. They dominated periods of the match. But they were let down by a slightly square back four and failure to capitalise on neat build-ups from midfield. David Beckham was effective when he had the ball, but he had a relatively quiet night for Milan. He had to go off in the 57th minute with a hamstring complain, following his midweek injury. So that would be it, I guess.

Inter's first goal was clearly off Adriano's arm, which he was raising as the ball fell from his head. In my opinion it should have been disallowed. Pippo Inzaghi had three great chances for Milan. You would have expected him to claim one of them. The goal he 'scored' late in the second half was immediately ruled out by a yellow flag. This is a man who Alex Ferguson once described as "probably being born in an offside position." You can see why, and the AC support groaned. Not this neutral though. It was well worth the watch on BBC3 or (in my case) streamed online.
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In another galaxy

Poor chap. The sheer cruelty of having to pretend to support England for his entertaining book Union Jock: Sleeping with the Auld Enemy seems to have produced a sad mental confusion in dear Scotland on Sunday journo Aidan Smith. On STV last night he was talking tosh. “David Beckham’s PR and hype far outweighs anything he has achieved on the field,” he declared. Which apart from being wrong kind of misses the point. It's a bit like saying Buckingham Palace is rubbish because the Neverland ranch beats it on Googlefight.

In contrast to this strange denial, and to the whingers down here who peddle the same kind of stuff, A.C. Milan general manager Adriano Galliani points to the quality and commitment Beckham has brought with him. Fabio Capello still rates him after being persuaded by his Real Madrid experience. And so does Arsene Wenger after his time at Shenley. Then there's Ancelotti: “The scudetto race would be much easier for us if he stays. Beckham has given us a boost in quality and enthusiasm. He has given this team an added extra, in the way he plays, his focus, his quality of assist and in the goals that he has scored. He has made a great contribution.”

But what do they know, eh, Adrian? They must just all be PR dupes... as Graham Spiers archly suggested in a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek demolition of the Becks boo-boys in The Times the other day.

You have to sympathise with LA Galaxy, mind. They have behaved with great propriety, and yet they could well lose their star investment in the next few weeks, to judge from comments he made after A.C.'s 2-2 draw against Rangers in Glasgow. But the idea of a world class player ending his days in MLS rather than competing in Serie A, given the choice, is frankly ridiculous.

Yes, I know Beckham's obscenely rich and famous. I wouldn't defend someone for that. But he's a decent guy, incredibly hard working on the field, he still has class, and he really does want to play football. Which is more than you can say for a lot of his daft detractors. Actually I don't think they really believe their own dismissals. They just don't want to eat their words.
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Let the Tartan Army toast Becks

Hard-man Fabio Capello was quite right, of course. Even training diligently with Arsenal and having what Arsene Wenger called "the right physical and mental attitude" isn't the same as matchday experience. Nevertheless, it's hard not to feel for David Beckham, as he waits to see whether his 100 England caps will be fulfilled in one of the Summer friendlies. France is three days after Becks' first LA Galaxy game, so that's probably too early. You also have to wonder whether playing live football (sorry, 'soccer') for a team that would struggle in the English second division (sorry, 'Championship') is really so massively better than toning up in practice games with the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor. We will see.

The ideal solution, of course, would be for Goldenballs to make his century appearance against Scotland, where the Tartan Army could toast him (though not necessarily in a good way!) I'd love it to happen, and I'd love to be there; for two reasons. First, I want to see Scotland beat England, obviously. Second, and all joking aside, I have always had huge regard for Beckham. Given the fact that he swims daily in a mad universe of celebrity and money, he's stayed remarkably level-headed and decent overall. His distribution and set play skills are absolutely top-class. His work rate and determination put his more spiteful critics to shame. I really, really hope he gets his day of international recognition... with Super Faddy denying his team consolation on the pitch in the 92nd minute. Probably won't happen, though. Apparently, Capello has no interest in a Scotland fixture. Bah.

Big league blogging

Being married to an American (a decidedly dissenting one), I'm always interested to see what the US angle on life is, football included. SoccerBlog is an interesting States-eye view of the world of big-time action... and odd bits of MLS, of course. Well, David Beckham, anyway. They've offered to lay off him in 2008. Quite right too. Given the general level of circus insanity surrounding the man, Becks remains a determined and consistently high quality player. The fact that Steve McClaren didn't recognise this until almost too late says it all. If only he was Scottish. (No, not McClaren!). As it happens I picked up a copy of Bend It Like Beckham in VHS at a local charity shop the other day. Ah yes, football films. Now there's a topic...

Beckham insurance shocker

This fabulous story on poor old Becks is from peerless US satirical magazine The Onion. "L.A. Galaxy club officials said Monday that, under the terms of the insurance policy intended to protect their $250 million investment in star midfielder David Beckham, they would under no circumstances permit the high-priced Beckham to play soccer for them ever again." Hat-tip to my esteemed brother-in-law, Kevin Roth, down in Denver, Colorado, for spotting this one. Mind you, nothing could quite top the unintended satire of the cable TV show 'The Beckhams Arrive in America', which I watched, open-mouthed, when in the US last month (July 2007). Perhaps the best moment was when Posh expressed surprise that a vehicle registration agency photo couldn't be touched up, and said that her (filmed) detention for a traffic offence in LA had mainly been traumatic "because I was wearing flat shoes when I got out of the car". A veritable fashion disaster! No wonder David kept himself out of the camera's way for most of the first programme.