Campbell's United wish

Fraizer Campbell is settling into life at Tottenham Hotspur, but he’s still determined to make his mark at Old Trafford.

The 20-year-old, who was in action for England U21s at Wembley on Friday night, moved to White Hart Lane on a one-year loan deal as part of the Reds’ capture of Dimitar Berbatov last week.

He joins Darren Bent and summer signing Roman Pavlyuchenko as Spurs’ leading striking options and will hope to gain at least a spot on Juande Ramos’ bench when Tottenham host Aston Villa on Monday 15 September.

But although this is Campbell’s second long-term loan in as many years, the speedy striker claims his future still lies at Manchester United.

“I’ve had various meetings with Sir Alex and he assures me I’m in his plans for the future,” Campbell said.

“Hopefully I can get some experience, come back and get a place in his team.”

If Campbell enjoys the same kind of success at Spurs as he experienced last season at Hull City, he may well get his wish.

He netted 15 times in 34 appearances for The Tigers, as Phil Brown’s side roared to a historic promotion.

FIFA World Cup qualifiers

European Groups

1 - Malta 0-4 Portugal
3 - Slovakia 2-1 N. Ireland
6 - Andorra 0-2 England
7 - Austria 3-1 France
7 - Serbia 2-0 Faroe Islands
8 - Montenegro 2-2 Bulgaria
8 - Georgia 1-2 Rep of Ireland
9 - FYR Macedonia 1-0 Scotland

South American Group

Argentina 1-1 Paraguay

Internationals: Tevez off

Carlos Tevez and ex-United defender Gabriel Heinze both had a night to forget as Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign stuttered on home soil.

Reds striker Tevez was sent off after just half an hour, for a second bookable offence, after Heinze had gifted Paraguay the lead with an own goal in the 12th minute. And although Argentina eventually equalised through sub Sergio Aguero, set up by Barcelona's Lionel Messi, coach Alfio Basile was bemused.

Basile moaned: "We had the worst luck and the sending off of Tevez knocked us back. It was a strange match but I was not happy with the (1-1) draw because I believe we deserved to win."

The result in Buenos Aires saw Paraguay stay top in the South American group, two points clear of Argentina.

The first World Cup qualifiers in Europe brought mixed fortunes for United's internationals. Wayne Rooney was on the winning side after 90 minutes in an England shirt, thanks to two goals from Chelsea's Joe Cole against Andorra. There was no place for Wes Brown, however, with Portsmouth's Glen Johnson preferred at right-back and Everton's Jolean Lescott deputising for Rio Ferdinand in the centre.

John O'Shea was also a winner, playing the full match at centre-back as the Republic of Ireland beat Georgia 2-1 in neutral Germany. But two United team-mates tasted defeat on their travels - Jonny Evans' Northern Ireland lost 2-1 in Slovakia while Darren Fletcher was in the Scotland side beaten 1-0 by Macedonia. Evans and Fletcher both played 90 minutes.

Patrice Evra also played a full game but had no luck in the number 13 shirt for France as they suffered a shock 3-1 reverse in Austria. Dimitar Berbatov was also heading for defeat with Bulgaria until Blagoi Georgiev made the final score in Montenegro 2-2 with an injury time equaliser.

Nani had no such trouble however with Portugal. The United winger, on from the start, scored the final goal in the 78th minute as Carlos Queiroz's men cruised to a comprehensive 4-0 win in Malta.

Nemanja Vidic also got off to a winning start in the World Cup qualifiers, completing 90 minutes on the field as Serbia beat Faroe Islands 2-0.

Ronaldo to give all for United

Superstar to put heart and soul into Red Devils

Cristiano Ronaldo insists he will put his heart and soul into helping Manchester United achieve success this season.

The Portugal international upset many fans over the summer after initially refusing to confirm he wanted to stay at Old Trafford after being linked with Real Madrid.

However, despite Real's hopes of prizing the superstar away from Sir Alex Ferguson's grasp, The Red Devils stood their ground.

Ronaldo, who is nearing his long-awaited return following ankle surgery, has now conceded he was 'naïve' with his comments over the summer.

The 23-year-old has admitted that had United not beaten Chelsea on penalties in the UEFA Champions League final then he would not have wanted a fresh challenge.

Naive

"What I said publicly, which was maybe a little bit naïve, I take total responsibility for," he told Inside United magazine.

"I just said what I thought: I have a dream of playing at Real and I thought it was time to move on. People can't be upset about me fulfilling a child-hood dream.

"I knew Real were interested in me and they had, allegedly, made a substantial offer. For a while, I wanted United to accept.

"If we hadn't been European champions, I probabley wouldn't have thought about going to Madrid. I never wanted to go against United's will.

"I'm 100 per cent professional and have always given my heart and soul to this club.

"If one day I leave, I want to do it knowing I did everything I could to help the club win as much as possible."

Keane backs Berba move

Spurs old boy hails former team-mate

Berbatov completed a long-protracted move to Manchester United on transfer deadline day and Keane is confident Sir Alex Ferguson has conducted an astute piece of business.

While Keane admits it is a great move for the Bulgaria international, he is confident it is an even better one for United.

He said: "It was no secret that he was going to go there, everybody knew that Berba was going to go to Manchester United.

"It's a fantastic move for him, but it's a massive one for Man United because he is a top, top player.

Massive addition

"I have seen that at first hand and he will be a massive addition to the Man United squad."

Asked if he had sympathy for his former club, who desperately tried to hang on to the player before finally admitting defeat, Keane said: "I am sure Berba wants to be a better player and he wants to win things, and I think that's the reason he want to Manchester United.

"But Tottenham have brought in a lot of quality players also."

Fergie does not fear City

United boss not concerned by takeover

Sir Alex Ferguson has played down the threat posed by local rivals Manchester City.

City are expected to become a major force in English football after agreeing a takeover deal with the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG).

They have already signed Robinho for a British record transfer fee but Ferguson insists he is not too concerned by the dramatic developments.

Chelsea have spent heavily since Roman Abramovich bought the London club five years ago but Manchester United have won back-to-back Premier League titles and Ferguson is now ready for City's challenge.

"I can't be worried," Ferguson told reporters after a meeting of top coaches at Uefa headquarters in Switzerland.

"We have a good setup ourselves and we've been working to build up the team we've got, so we just have to carry on.

"There are always challenges in football, some years ago it was Chelsea and some years ago it was Arsenal and wherever the challenge comes from we have to accept it. So it doesn't change anything."

Ronaldo talk

City officials have spoken about signing Cristiano Ronaldo for a colossal fee in the region of £135million but Ferguson was amused by the suggestion.

"They can talk," said the United boss.

Ferguson accepts that City boss Mark Hughes will now come under pressure to deliver success to the club.

Asked if he would have liked such responsibility as a young coach, Ferguson replied: "For a young manager it must be difficult.

"You can't judge it from when I started, it is a completely different world now. I am at the tail-end of my career. I've been through all these changes so it doesn't faze me."

World Cup weekend

The road to South Africa 2010 starts for numerous United players and one ex-Reds coach this weekend.

Nani is in the squad for Carlos Queiroz's first World Cup qualifier as Portugal boss, but Cristiano Ronaldo is continuing his rehab at Carrington.

John O'Shea should start on Saturday evening when the Republic of Ireland begin their campaign under Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni. The away match against Georgia is being played on neutral ground in Mainz, Germany for security reasons.

O'Shea is in the same qualifying group as new United team-mate Dimitar Berbatov - they will face each other in late March 2009 but firstly Berbatov's Bulgaria travel to Montenegro in search of three points.

Also sharing a group are Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic, the defenders who both joined the Reds in January 2006. Evra hopes to feature in France's match in Austria while Vidic's Serbia are expected to make a winning start against the Faroe Islands.

Wes Brown and Wayne Rooney could play against Barcelona in Andorra but Rio Ferdinand was ruled out on Friday afternoon due to a back injury. Fortunately the Reds centre-back is expected to be fit for the second game against Croatia in midweek, three days before United travel to Liverpool.

Finally for Europe, Jonny Evans' Northern Ireland and Darren Fletcher's Scotland are both away, taking on Slovakia and Macedonia respectively.

South America

Qualifying in South America is already well underway - Argentina's match on Saturday will be their seventh. Carlos Tevez and co can go top of the 10-strong group if they beat leaders Paraguay in Buenos Aires.

Other Internationals

Young United players called up by their countries include Ben Amos and Danny Welbeck (England U21), Craig Cathcart and Corry Evans (N. Ireland U21), Ron-Robert Zieler (Germany U20), Conor Devlin and Chris Curran (N. Ireland U19). Unfortunately Danny Drinkwater had to withdraw from England's U21 squad due to injury.

Online betting for all qualifiers and the outcome of World Cup 2010 is available at www.manutd.com/bet. Odds include 7/2 for Rooney to score the first goal against Andorra and 5/1 for Brazil to win the tournament in two years' time.