Advertisement
Soccer

Beckham’s back is a concern

By Helene Elliott
Share

David Beckham missed the Galaxy’s practice Thursday at the Home Depot Center because of back pain that he said flared up a few days ago.

Beckham, who has played in only two Major League Soccer games this season because of his loan to AC Milan, said he hoped to resume training today to play for the Galaxy against powerhouse FC Barcelona on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

“I’ve got slight back pain, but it’s not a problem,” he said Thursday. “I did my work in the gym and got some treatments, so it should be fine.”

Advertisement

However, he wouldn’t definitively say that he will play. “I hope so, unless I have a bad reaction from the last couple of days,” he said. “But I think it will be fine. It’s feeling a lot better than it was yesterday.”

Beckham says he’s looking forward to Saturday’s game.

“Coming up against Barcelona -- European champions, Spanish champions, Spanish Cup champions -- it’s an honor for us to play against these teams and these players,” he said. “[Lionel] Messi’s one of the best, if not the best player in the world. So to come up against someone like him, our players are really looking forward to that.”

-- Helene Elliott

More to Read

Soccer
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Advertisement