Real Madrid's Italian coach Fabio Capello (l) looks at Real Madrid footballer David Beckham shooting during a Spanish League match between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid at Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian, Spain.

MADRID, Spain,
Feb. 11--David Beckham made a dramatic goal-scoring return for Real Madrid as the Spanish giants beat Real Sociedad 2-1 to breathe new life into their title campaign.
According to AFP, ironically, the former England skipper’s performance may also have helped save Fabio Capello’s job.
The Italian coach had vowed Beckham would never play for him again after the ex-Manchester United man signed a 250-million-dollar deal to move to Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States at the end of the season.
But with Madrid in danger of slipping off the championship pace, and the Spanish media predicting the axe for Capello if they lost on Saturday, the 31-year-old Beckham made a fairytale return.
He found the net in the 36th minute with a trademark, right-foot 25-metre free-kick which sneaked around the side of the two-man Sociedad wall, beat Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and pulled Real level at 1-1.
On Friday, when Capello announced that Beckham had been recalled, the Italian had been fulsome in his praise of the player.
Recognizing he was too hasty to drop one of his most experienced players, Capello said: “The wise thing to do was to rectify“ his original decision
On Saturday, Mikel Aranburu had given second-from bottom Sociedad a seventh-minute lead when he headed in from close range after goalkeeper Iker Casillas had made a terrible hash of a cross from the right by Xabi Prieto.
Madrid made sure of the three points when Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the winner three minutes into the second half.
It was the Dutchman’s 11th league goal of the season.
Beckham, who last played in the 2-0 defeat against Deportivo La Coruna on January 7, didn’t have things all his way however when he picked up a second-half yellow card.
Real stay third in the table, two points behind leaders Barcelona while Sevilla are still second, level on 43 points with the European champions but behind on goal difference.
They have also played a game more after a 0-0 draw in Saturday’s derby clash with Real Betis.

Finland's Marcus Gronholm races on the third day of the fifth Rally of Sweden in the woods around Hagfors, Sweden.

KARLSTAD, Sweden, Feb. 11--Marcus Gronholm tightened his grip on the Rally of Sweden, his five stage wins leaving the Ford Focus driver with a near 40-second cushion over world champion Sebastien Loeb.
According to AFP, Gronholm, a double former world titleholder, went into Sunday’s final day with a time of 2hr 22.29.6sec and set fair to claim his fifth win in Sweden since 2000.
France’s Loeb is 38.4sec adrift in a Citroen C4 and Gronholm’s fellow Finn and Ford Focus teammate Mikko Hirvonen is 1min 13.4sec away in third.
The pacesetter proved virtually unstoppable, sweeping to wins in stages 10 to 14, with the other two specials falling to Loeb and the Subaru Impreza driven by Norwegian teenager Mads Ostberg.
It proved an unhappy day in the office for former world champion Petter Solberg.
The Norwegian, placed third overnight, crashed out in stage 10.
Gronholm’s superiority on Saturday was in part put down to better grip on his tires having fitted his Ford with half a millimeter thicker snow chains than Loeb.
“We lost everything because of this mistake,“ complained Loeb.
“I tried to make up for that with a more original one than Marcus because I knew with matching tires we wouldn’t make up the deficit.“
Gronholm for his part smiled: “I never choose the same chains as Seb.“

GOLD COAST, Australia, Feb. 11--Australia’s Karrie Webb has coasted to a two-shot victory for her sixth Australian Ladies Masters golf title at Royal Pines.
The world number three followed up her six-stroke win in last weekend’s Australian Open at Royal Sydney with a closing four-under round of 68 after Saturday’s 10-under course record 62, to finish on 19-under 269, AFP reported.
Webb was just two shots off equaling the European tour’s lowest tournament total. The Masters is part of the European tour.
Webb beat home Korean teenager Shin Ji-Yai (70-66-66-69) for her 46th career victory.
American world number four Cristie Kerr took third place after four sub-par bogey-free rounds of 69-69-66-68.
The 32-year-old Webb duplicated her Australian Open-Masters double in 2000, after which she went on to claim the top world ranking.
Webb shut her rivals out of the tournament, covering Sunday’s front nine holes in 32 shots.
She started her final round tied in the lead on 15 under with compatriot Michelle Ellis and by the turn had pulled four shots clear of Shin.
The ease of Webb’s victory underlines the benefits of the adjustments she has made under her new coach Ian Triggs, who believes she can now overtake Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam and Spain’s Lorena Ochoa as the game’s number one player.
The Koreans unveiled some tremendous talent in 18-year-old Shin and fellow teenager Ahn Sun-Ju (64-68-72-70), who made a last hole birdie to finish alone in fourth place.

Lashawn Merritt

FAYETTEVILLE, USA, Feb. 11--Lashawn Merritt, who shot to national prominence here two years ago, captured another Tyson Invitational indoor 400m title.
Merritt grabbed the lead from the beginning and held on to win in 45.51sec, fastest in the world this year. Milton Campbell was the runner-up in 46.05 with reigning world 400m hurdles champion Bershawn Jackson third in 46.10, AFP Said.
Merritt didn’t match his fireworks of 2005, when as an 18-year-old he won the 400m at this meeting in 44.93sec.
But he was satisfied with the early season effort. He also anchored the USA 4x400m relay squad that included Wallace Spearmon, reigning world outdoor 400m silver medalist Andrew Rock and Xavier Carter.
The talented quartet didn’t threaten the indoor world record, and in fact were nearly upset by a Baylor University team.
Merritt had to overtake Baylor anchor Quentin Summers to capture the victory in 3:04.97. Baylor was second in 3:05.14.
Olympic 200m gold medalist Shawn Crawford won the 60m in 6.61sec, adding the Tyson title to victories at the Boston Indoor Games and at the Millrose Games.
Marshevet Hooker continued an impressive indoor season with a convincing 60m victory. Hooker, winner at the Boston Indoor Games and runner-up last week at the Millrose Games, triumphed in 7.26sec. Jamaica’s Sheri-Ann Brooks was second in 7.34 seconds, with world outdoor championships 200m silver medalist Rachelle Smith third in 7.40.
Allyson Felix, the reigning 200m outdoor world champion, made her 2007 debut with a victory in the 300m.
Felix clocked 36.33sec, the fifth-fastest performance in history in the rarely run event, to edge compatriot Dee Dee Trotter.
Two-time Canadian Olympian Kevin Sullivan out-dueled Matt Tegenkamp to win the 3,000m, overtaking the American in the final stretch to win in a Canadian record of 7:40.17. Tegenkamp was second in 7:40.25, and Irishman Alistair Cragg, a 13-time All-American and seven-time NCAA champion while at the University of Arkansas, was third in 7:43.30.
Aussie Mark Fountain, who lives and trains in Fayetteville cruised to victory in the men’s mile in 3:55.58, with American Nick Symmonds second in 4:01.21.
In contrast the women’s mile produced a fight to the finish, with Ethiopia’s Mestawot Tadesse (4:32.48) barely holding off Canadian Malindi Elmore (4:32.50).

LONDON, Feb. 11--Park Ji-sung kept Manchester United on course for the Premiership title as his goal set up the leaders’ 2-0 win against Charlton.
South Korean midfielder Park broke the deadlock in the first half at Old Trafford and Darren Fletcher added a second in the closing minutes to secure United’s fourth successive win and maintain their six-point advantage over second-placed Chelsea, AFP said.
The defending champions kept up their challenge with a 3-0 win over Middlesbrough.
Struggling Charlton made Sir Alex Ferguson’s side work hard for the win, but Park, who was only playing because of a cold that kept out Cristiano Ronaldo, broke the deadlock when he rose above Ben Thatcher to head home Patrice Evra’s cross in the 24th minute.
China captain Zheng Zhi came on as substitute to make his Charlton debut, but Fletcher put United in control when he finished well in the 82nd minute.
Ferguson said: “There were moments when we played some good possession football, but credit to Charlton for one of the brighter performances here this season.
“They expressed themselves and made it difficult for us, although we had some good chances to put the game away before half-time.“
Didier Drogba ensured Chelsea kept the pressure on United as he scored twice in the win against Middlesbrough.
Drogba curled a free-kick past Mark Schwarzer on the stroke of half-time to put Chelsea in front.
Jose Mourinho’s side, who are now unbeaten in league at Stamford Bridge for three years, were further ahead in the 66th minute when Arjen Robben drove in a shot that took a wicked deflection past Schwarzer for an own goal by Abel Xavier.
Drogba got his 25th goal of the season in the 83rd minute to give Chelsea their fifth consecutive victory.
Newcastle staged a stirring fight back to claim a 2-1 win over Liverpool and give George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the Anfield club’s new American owners, a disappointing start to their reign.

DONETSK, Ukraine, Feb. 11--Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva broke her own indoor mark in the women’s pole vault Saturday, clearing 16 feet, 2 inches for her 20th world record.
The Olympic and world champion bettered her previous record of 16-1 1/4, set at this meet last year. She cleared the height on her third attempt at the Pole Vault Stars event, AP reported.
She failed to clear that height at the world championships in Moscow last season and at the Millrose Games in New York last week.
After her most successful season in 2005, when she set four indoor and five outdoor world records, Isinbayeva switched to a new coach and struggled through the last season.

CHUNCHEON, South Korea, Feb. 11--South Korea advanced to the second round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1 with a 5-0 clean sweep over Kazahkstan.
On Sunday’s singles, Kim Sun-Yong brushed aside Dmitri Makeev 6-3, 6-1 as An Jae-Sung trounced Syrym Abdukhalikov 6-4, 6-1, AFP said.
South Korea took an irreversible 3-0 lead over Kazakhstan here Saturday when its pair Lee Hyung-Taik and Jun Woong-Sun beat Alexey Kedriouk and Dmitry Makeev 6-1, 7-5, 6-2.
On Friday, South Korea’s number one Lee Hyung-Taik, ranked 54th, triumphed over Syrym Abdukhalikov 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 and Jun Woong-Sun defeated Kedriouk 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
South Korea will face the winner of the match between Uzbekistan and India on April 6-8 in the second round.