David Beckham underwent successful surgery on his torn left Achilles tendon on Monday and it was confirmed that he would miss the World Cup.

A trip to South Africa looked highly probable for Beckham until he did himself a mischief in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday night.

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Lionel Messi produced one of the most spectacular second-half performances I have seen in a long time as he scored a hat-trick in the 3-0 win against Valencia on Sunday.

Los Ches and their meticulous coach Unai Emery had got the tactics right in the first-half and went in 0-0 at half-time. They looked dangerous on the break, although there were still signs at the other end of the problems Messi would later cause.

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Miralem Pjanic is destined for big things. He is not a household name, but that may change after his goal for Lyon knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League.

Europe's premier club competition was the be all and end all for Real this season as the final on May 22 is at their Bernabeu Stadium.

As I watched Cristiano Ronaldo trudge off down the tunnel, his early goal not enough to send Real through as they bowed out 2-1 on aggregate in the second round, my immediate thoughts turned to the future of coach Manuel Pellegrini, but also the prospect of Real's worst nightmare coming to fruition.

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2010 was meant to be their year. Finally an African nation was going to make a sustained challenge at a World Cup.

It was on home turf for the first time and there were more African players operating in European superpowers than ever before. The Elephants were ready to rampage and the Black Stars were aiming for the sky. There was even optimism that Nigeria's Super Eagles may soar, having reached the semi-finals of the African Nations Cup.

But with the tournament just three months away, a cloak of uncertainty is wrapping itself around the African challenge.

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