David Beckham And The Inspiration For Daughter Harper Seven

David Beckham and his wife Victoria welcome the arrival of baby daughter Harper Seven Beckham. The little miss weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. when she was born at 7:55 am on Sunday at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.

Daughter Harper Seven joins the three Beckham boys, Brooklyn, Romea and Cruz much to the delight of the parents who already new that a daughter was on the way when they made it public in March.

David announced on his Facebook page: “I am so proud and excited to announce the birth of our daughter Harper Seven Beckham.” He also said that wife Victoria was “doing really well’ after the birth.

Beckham’s daughter’s name is unusual and a strange combination. Harper, as a christian name is becoming more common in the US and no doubt will be much more popular in the next few weeks. As for Seven, that probably refers to the number that David has worn on his shirt throughout football career.

It has been a busy few days for David who met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they started their trip to the US in California. The Beckhams were guests at the Royal Wedding in April.

David Beckham who is currently playing soccer for LA Galaxy has had a glittering career in European football playing for Manchester United, where he won six Premier League titles and the Champions League title as well.

He also won the Spanish league with Real Madrid after a £25m transfer from Manchester before later joining LA Galaxy. He has also spent two loan spells at Italian giants AC Milan during the Major League closed season.

David has also played football for England on 109 occasions and was captain for 58 matches. During his career he has been runner up for FIFA World Player of The Year and also the world’s top earning football player, soccer player in the US.

Severiano Ballesteros

The Spaniard, who was 54, passed away in the early on Saturday morning after a protracted battle with brain cancer.

He won five majors, incuding three Open titles, and 87 titles overall in a glittering career, which also included successes in the Ryder Cup as both player and captain.

A selection of tributes from the world’s top golfers.

“Seve was an absolute hero of mine and I modelled so much of my game on him.”

“What impressed me most in Seve was his strength, his fighting spirit and the passion he put into everything he did.”

“Seve’s enthusiasm was just unmatched by anybody I think that ever played the game.”

“For golf, he was the greatest show on earth. I was a fan and so fortunate I had front row seat.”

Fernando Torres Joins Chelsea For UK Record Fee

Chelsea and their extremely wealthy owner Roman Abramovich set a new British recored by paying a reported £50m ($80) to sign the Liverpool and Spanish international Fernando Torres from Liverpool. They followed this up by paying a reported £21.3m ($34) for Benfica (Portugal) Brazilian player David Luiz.

Liverpool did not keep hold of the proceeds of the Torres sale for very long as the immediately spent £35m ($56) on capturing Andy Carroll from Newcastle and also spent £22.7m ($36.5) on Uruguayan Luis Suarez from Dutch team Ajax.

Twenty six year old Torres, a member of the Spanish World Cup winning team of 2010 and the European champions in 2008 had been at Liverpool for three and a half years after moving from Spanish team Athletico Madrid for a fee of £20m.  During his time at Liverpool he played 142 games and scored 81 goals but was beset by injuries in each season he spent at the club.

Chelsea had previously been interested in signing Torres before, making a bid in May 2010. Last week Torres made a transfer request and it is widely believed that he was encouraged by Chelsea who were fully aware of a £50m release clause in his contract that allowed him to move away if Liverpool did not finish in the top four positions and qualify for European  football competitions next year. Liverpool are currently seventh in the premier League.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said earlier in the day when the Torres transfer was being negotiated: “Movement is part and parcel of football but the most important people at Liverpool Football Club are the ones who want to be here.”

Although setting a new record for money paid by a British club, Torres’s transfer ranks fourth on the world scene. Manchester United received the largest transfer fee when Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in July 2009. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kaka also moved to Spanish teams for fees in excess of £50m.

Djokovic's Power And Incredible Movement Wins The Day.

The first men’s tennis Grand Slam title of the year has been won by Serbian world number three, Novak Djokovic who outplayed Britain Andy Murray to claim the title in Melbourne. Djokovic reclaims the title he previously won in 2008 and condemned Murray to his third defeat in a Grand Slam final.

In the post match on court interview with former champion Jim Courier Murray said about Djokovic: “He had an unbelievable tournament and deserved to win”. Djokovic replied in turn: “I want to congratulate Andy for a great two weeks, it was really difficult to play against you tonight. Hopefully you will have another chance to win a Grand Slam trophy and, with your talent, I’m sure you will.”

Seeded three, Djokovic, with a 4-3 head to head advantage over Murray started as slight favourite after a fine performance in beating Roger Federer in the semi-finals by three straight sets. Murray, seeded fifth, had laboured to wins in his last two matches and never hit top form in the final.

The opening game with Murray serving lasted 15 minutes with Djokovic hammering heavy forehands from the start. The first set lasted 58 minutes with the assertive style and greater power of Djokovic coming out on top to win 6-4.

Murray was not helping his cause making less than 50% of his first serves and producing several unforced errors was set point and 5-0 down when he rallied to break and then hold serve before the relentless Djokovic served out to win 6-2.

Murray who had not won a single set in Grand Slam finals started the third set in better style breaking Djokovic only to give it back in the next game. Murray seemed to be becoming angry and was shouting at his mother and coaching team in the player’s box as Djokovic heaped on the pressure moving ahead to 3-1.

But Murray was not done for, yet and with a hint of a smile fought back to 3-3 but it did not last and Djokovic powered ahead with fearsome forehands and Murray netting the ball at crucial moments. Djokovic won the edgy ninth game of the third set to take the title for the second time.

Li Na is First Chines Player to Appear in a Grand Slam Final

The eyes of China will be on the  Australian Open ladies final today as Chinese tennis player Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to appear in a Grand Slam final. After defeating world number one player Caroline Wozniacki in the semi finals, she steps out onto the court in Melbourne today in an attempt to go one step further and beat Kim Clijsters to the trophy.

Her progress has encapsulated the Chinese population and filled the airwaves and web pages across the country with news and views and reportedly songs have already been written about her success.

Born in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in 1982 Li Na was playing badminton at the age of six when her coach noticed that she had the actions of a tennis player and she switched to playing tennis by the time she was aged nine.

Li turned professional in 1999 and won three of her first four singles tournaments and and all seven of the doubles tournaments that she entered on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit. In 2000 she won fifty two singles matches on the ITF circuit including eight titles, which resulted in her world ranking rising to 136 and gaining direct entry into her first WTA Tour event.

In mid 2002 she disappeared from the tennis circuit for two years, there were rumours that she had health reasons but others say that she split from the national team when officials barred her from a relationship with the man who is now her husband and coach, Jiang Shan.

However she was back on the tennis circuit in 2004 winning five more ITF tournaments before winning her first WTA tournament and has remained in the WTA circuit ever since rising to number five in the world by the time of the Australian Open.

Her success in Melbourne, win or lose in the final, will doubtless inspire many more Chinese youngsters to play tennis and will boost her popularity as she stamps a Chinese presence on a major sporting event, following in the footsteps of Ding Junhui who won the The Masters snooker final in London recently against another Chinese player, Marco Fu from Hong Kong.

David And Victoria Beckham Hoping For a Baby Daughter

Los Angeles Galaxy soccer player David Beckham and his wife Victoria have announced that a new baby is expected in the summer. In a house hold dominated by boys, a husband and three sons, the couple are hoping for a daughter. Close friends say that the pair do not want to know the sex of the new baby until it arrives.

Beckham announced the news by posting details on his Facebook page, where he wrote: “I’ve got great news to tell you. Victoria and I are expecting a fourth child this summer. The boys are very excited about the arrival of their new brother or sister”.

David Beckham is currently in England during the Major Soccer League closed season. He will start training with English Premier Football League team Tottenham Hotspurs on Monday to maintain his fitness. He was hoping to play for them on a loan deal but it appears that insurance is making it impossible. He was badly injure whilst on loan to AC Milan in the same period last year.

Ex Spice Girls singer and now fashion designer Victoria has often mention  about her desire to have a daughter but recently has been more cautious saying: “Maybe another baby one day, but the chances of having a girl are quite slim”.

Whether it is a daughter or a son the baby will be delivered by Caesarean section because of the risks of a natural birth after Victoria already having had the operation at the birth of their third child.

The couple and their children travel between homes in Beverly Hills and Hertfordshire, where their home is known as Beckingham Palace, a play on Buckingham Palace.  David’s contract with LA Galaxy finishes in November and it is not known where they will live afterwards although he has expressed a wish to purchase a Major League team in the past.

Within hours of the Facebook announcement one UK bookmaker was accepting bets for the new baby’s name with Sandra, David’s mother’s, name an early favorite for a daughter and David Jnr favorite for a son.

Brazilian Footballer Lied About His Own Kidnap

A football player in Brazil, who was running late in the morning to report for training, faked his own kidnapping in an attempt to avoid being docked 40% of his pay. Instead, he now faces up to six months in jail for falsely reporting a serious crime.

Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo’s Somalia reported that he had been abducted at by an armed man and forced to drive around for two hours, the period when the team’s training was taking place before being robbed of jewelry and money and released.

Inconsistencies in his story raised suspicions with the local police who viewed CCTV footage from the player’s apartment block and they soon realized that the video evidence did not back up the player’s claims.

Police said that Somalia, real name Paulo Rogerio Reis da Silva, was seen leaving the apartment at 9:00am, two hours after the time he claimed that he was abducted. Local media has reported that he had returned home at 4:00am on the morning of his “abduction”.

Local police chief, Juliana Domingues says that Somalia could now face a serious criminal charge with up to six months in jail if found guilty. The player himself, showed up for training on time on Friday morning but would not make any comment.

Football related kidnapping is not unusual in Brazil, a country of extremes for the rich and poor. In 2005 three footballers mother were kidnapped in Brazil in the space of four months. In March that year, the mother of footballer Luis Fabiano, who had recently transferred to FC Porto in Portugal for $14m, was kidnapped and held for 62 days before being rescued by police. Prior to that another mother was rescued the next day and the third was released after 40 days when a ransom was paid.

Late last year the car carrying Formula One driver Jenson Button was attacked by would be kidnappers.