England captain David Beckham is making good progress in his bid to overcome a foot injury in time for the World Cup, Manchester United confirmed.

Beckham broke the metatarsal bone in his left foot during last month's Champions League quarterfinal, second-leg tie against Deportivo La Coruna of Spain.

"His latest X-ray, taken this week, has shown that there are signs that his bone is healing satisfactorily," read a statement on United's website.

The 27-year-old Beckham hopes to be fit for England's opening World Cup match against Sweden in Saitama, Japan on June 2.

SETBACK FOR CANIGGIA

AFP, Glasgow

Veteran Argentina forward Claudio Caniggia's chances of playing in this summer's World Cup appeared to suffer a setback when he went off injured in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday.

Rangers striker Caniggia was obstructed by Celtic's Johan Mjallby in the 19th minute and appeared to fall awkwardly at Hampden Park.

Reports said Caniggia had aggravated an existing knee injury. While Caniggia was receiving treatment Celtic took the lead through John Hartson before the Rangers substitute Shota Arveladze could come on.

MALDINI'S DENIAL

AFP, Asuncion

Paraguay coach Cesare Maldini of Italy insisted keeper Jose Luis Chilavert had not interfered with the selection of the World Cup squad as the country's media had reported.

Maldini was speaking at a press conference where he was due to announce a squad to leave for Italy on Monday but claimed bureaucracy prevented him naming players.

Maldini also said Chilavert, one of the high-profile characters of the 1998 finals in France, had not interfered in picking the squad, saying he had not made a me-or-him ultimatum about midfielder Julio Cesar Enciso, with whom he has not seen eye-to-eye in the past.

GUSEV GIVES UP HOPES?

Reuters, Moscow

CSKA Moscow winger Rolan Gusev, voted by the media as the league's best player for April, remains pessimistic about his chances of being included in Russia's World Cup squad by coach Oleg Romantsev.

"I have a minimal chance of going to Japan and South Korea," the 24-year-old Russian international was quoted as saying in Saturday's edition of Sport-Express newspaper.

"I already said why I think I was left out of the national team and I won't take my words back."

Earlier this year, Gusev accused Romantsev of phasing him out of Russia's team because he chose to move to CSKA from city rivals Dynamo instead of joining champions Spartak Moscow, who are also coached by Romantsev.