Hamburg - Brazilian midfielder Alex Silva will miss the German Bundesliga football rest

Mumbai, Jan. 10 (ANI): A new reality television series will begin scouting for footballing talent in India.

According to a report in the Times, as far as the promotion of the sport is concerned, India is being seen as the "last great frontier".

The paper says that the winners of the Soccer Prince competition will be offered apprenticeships with English teams likely to include Liverpool, the current leaders of the Barclays Premier League.

London, Jan 10 : Ace Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has reached a verbal agreement with Florentino Pérez, the former Real Madrid president, to join the Spanish club.

Ronaldo made this agreement through his agent Jorge Mendes. It is understood that Pérez will use this promise when he stands for election as Real president in 2010, The Times reported.

There is a growing conviction in Madrid that the Manchester United and Portugal forward will sign for the Spanish champions at some point, a view reiterated by Pepe, the Real defender who is a Portugal teammate of Ronaldo.

"He has shown he wants to come here with the statements he has made. We'll see if he still desires to join us this summer," Pepe said.

London  - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez slammed Sir Alex Ferguson on Friday, accusing the Manchester United manager of being the only one who can criticise referees without punishment.

The Spaniard, whose side sit three points clear at the top of the table, said Ferguson was wrong to criticise the fixture list, which, he said, actually favoured United in the second half of the season.

Dubai - France midfielder Franck Ribery took the wheel of the Bayern Munich team bus and knocked over two signs outside the players' hotel in Dubai - but the incident hasn't dented his standing with the German champions.

"Franck wanted to have a bit of fun," said coach Juergen Klinsmann, relieved that the prank only caused minor damage.

General manager Uli Hoeness was meanwhile left to smooth over the incident with an angry hotel management, while team-mate Tim Borowski admitted the players were slightly shaken by the unscheduled spin around the hotel on Thursday.

Madrid - Uruguayan striker Sebastian Abreu has agreed to join Spanish second division side Real Sociedad from Argentina's River Plate, the Spanish club said Friday.

Abreu, 32, has agreed to a six-month contract with the Basque club, with the option for it to be extended until June 2010. He is due to fly in to San Sebastian on Friday evening for medical checks.

The striker, known as the "madman" because of his eccentric mannerisms, has played for 15 different clubs in a colourful career.

He was signed by Liga club Deportivo Coruna in 1998 but hardly managed to get a game for the Galicians.