Beckham's World Cup absence confirmed

Soccer Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Turku, Finland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England midfielder David Beckham underwent successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon on Monday in Finland, and it was confirmed by Dr. Sakari Orava that he will miss this summer's World Cup in South Africa.

The injury is expected to sideline Beckham for around six months and it remains to be seen how quickly he will be able to return to action with the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer.

Beckham suffered the injury while on loan at AC Milan in an attempt to win a spot on England's World Cup team, which would have made him the first England player to appear in four World Cups for the Three Lions.

The injury occurred late in the second half of Sunday's 1-0 win over Chievo when Beckham received a pass in midfield and grabbed at his left ankle after taking an awkward step.

Beckham is the most-capped outfield player in England history with 115, and he ranks second all-time behind goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who has amassed 125 caps.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.