European round-up A spokesman for David Beckham yesterday denied that the England captain was planning to retire from international football after the 2006 World Cup.
It came in response to reports that Beckham, named in Sven-Goran Eriksson's England squad for Wednesday's friendly with Spain in Madrid, would call time on his England career after the tournament in Germany, when he will be 31. According to Simon Oliveira, Beckham's quotes had been taken out of context.
"I think the World Cup is probably as far at it will go for me as an England player," the Real Madrid midfielder was quoted as saying. "But you never know; if I feel good I may carry on."
Beckham last night appeared to prove his fitness ahead of the clash with Spain when he came through the full 90s minutes of Real's 6-1 home win over Albacete, the first time the midfielder has played in five weeks, since cracking his ribs in an international against Wales.
Albacete were powerless to stop a devastating early onslaught from Real, Raul flicking a Zinedine Zidane corner on for Ronaldo to head home in the third minute.
Albacete gradually found some rhythm and equalised in the 15th minute when Francisco powered the ball into the net.
The hosts upped their game and scored twice before the break. Zidane scored with a left-footed strike and three minutes later the Frenchman set Raul up for a neat header.
In the second period, Real looked even more threatening and they went 4-1 up in the 49th minute after a David Beckham free kick was headed inside the post by Samuel.
Substitute Michael Owen finished with cool precision for an 89th-minute goal before Ronaldo dribbled past a clutch of defenders to score Real's sixth goal in time added on.
Real were given a further boost later when Barcelona lost for the first time this season going down 2-1 to mid-table Real Betis.
Barcelona's defeat means their lead over Real at the top of the Primera League has been cut to four points, with Espanyol two points behind the Bernabeu side in third on 20 points and Ian Harte's Levante a point further back.
In Italy, Alessandro Del Piero's goal gave Juventus a 1-0 win at Lecce as the Serie A leaders maintained their six-point advantage over second-placed AC Milan yesterday.
Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko scored both goals as Milan beat Siena 2-1 at the San Siro, while Inter Milan's bizarre season continued as they came back from 3-1 down at Cagliari, two goals from Nigerian Obafemi Martins earning them a 3-3 draw.
The result maintains Inter's unbeaten record but that counts for little - with 10 draws from 12 games, they are now 15 points behind Juve.
Third-placed Udinese were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Messina, who moved above Lecce into fourth place.
AS Roma's troubles continued as they lost 1-0 to Reggina while a Paolo Di Canio penalty gave Lazio a 2-1 win over Bologna.
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