England’s Beckham Breaks Bone in Foot

David Beckham, the player with the pop-star lifestyle who England was counting on to lead it to World Cup glory this summer, suffered a broken bone in his left foot Wednesday and likely will miss soccer’s quadrennial world championship.

The injury, which will sideline the midfielder for six to eight weeks, occurred while Beckham was playing for Manchester United in its 3-2 European Champions League quarterfinal victory over Deportivo La Coruna of Spain.

Beckham was felled by a hard tackle by Deportivo’s Aldo Duscher 16 minutes into the match at Old Trafford in Manchester and left the field limping. He was immediately taken to a hospital, where X-rays revealed the break.

“He is doubtful for the World Cup,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United’s coach. “It was a bad tackle, but games of football are about tackles and the player had to go for it.”

Duscher is from Argentina, which plays England in a crucial “group of death” game in Sapporo, Japan on June 7, but there was no suggestion that his tackle was anything but clumsy.

“We did not single out Beckham for any special treatment,” Deportivo Coach Javier Irureta said. “I’m sorry for what has happened and hope he recovers quickly.”

Beckham’s lifestyle as much as his playing ability have made him a favorite subject of the British press, which reports as much on the off-field activities of the England captain and his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria “Posh” Spice, as it does on his soccer exploits. Their home is jokingly known as Beckingham Palace.

In that sense, Beckham is the heir to another Manchester United legend of old, George Best.

But while Best never played in the World Cup, Beckham, 26, saw the tournament as his chance to shine on the world stage. Now, it appears he will miss the opportunity.

Referee Markus Merk of Germany did not caution Duscher for the tackle, but the midfielder did get two yellow cards later in the game and was ejected.

Injuries such as Beckham’s normally take at least six weeks to heal.

England’s first World Cup game is against Sweden on June 2, less than eight weeks away.

It plays Argentina five days later in a rematch of the famous game during the France ’98 World Cup in which Beckham was ejected for retaliating to a foul by Argentina’s Diego Simeone.

Without Beckham, England played with 10 men for 70 minutes and held on for a memorable 2-2 tie.

It is possible that Sven Goran Ericksson, England’s Swedish coach, will still select Beckham to his World Cup roster when the May 21 deadline arrives, hoping that he will be fit for the knockout stage, should England get past Sweden, Argentina and Nigeria in the first round.

But the three early games, always a test, now will be that much more difficult for England.

Beckham is renowned for his passing skill and is widely regarded as the best free-kick specialist in the world.

His inspirational play led England to its 5-1 demolition of Germany in World Cup qualifying last year and his last-minute goal off a free kick against Greece clinched England’s World Cup place.