Beckham drained but seems unscathed
David Beckham and the Galaxy, still basking in the glow of Wednesday night’s SuperLiga semifinal victory over D.C. United, flew to New Jersey on Thursday to prepare for Saturday night’s Major League Soccer match against the New York Red Bulls.
Beckham, who scored one goal and assisted on another against United in his first start for the Galaxy, is expected to play against the Red Bulls despite the artificial surface at Giants Stadium.
His injured left ankle, still a concern, probably will limit his minutes, though.
“Overall, the ankle was a lot better than I thought it was going to be,” Beckham said after playing about 62 minutes in Wednesday’s 2-0 victory. “After 10 minutes, it sort of cleared up and I felt confident going into tackles.”
One such tackle on D.C. United forward Jaime Moreno was late, from behind and somewhat dangerous and it earned Beckham a yellow card from referee Alex Prus.
“I have to thank the referee for not giving me a red card,” Beckham said, admitting that his tackle was on the crude side and might have got him ejected.
Beckham appeared to emerge unscathed from his first serious competitive effort in two months, but was left drained Wednesday.
“Physically, I felt tired towards the end of the hour, but overall it was good,” he said.
Afterward, he kept the media waiting for an hour while receiving treatment on his legs and left ankle to “get through any knots that were actually in my legs since that’s the first time I was on the field . . . or [had] done any sort of running like that in eight weeks,” he said.
Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop said Beckham’s ankle appeared to have passed the test.
“I just looked at it and it wasn’t swollen, so that’s a good sign,” he said late Wednesday night. “It might get a little sore overnight.”
Yallop said he was pleased with Beckham’s contribution, over and above his goal and assist. “He moved well in the game,” Yallop said. “Probably better than I thought he would.”
Today, Beckham is scheduled to take part in an afternoon youth soccer clinic in Harlem, along with Galaxy teammate Ty Harden and New York Red Bull forwards Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore, after which he will speak at a news conference in Manhattan.
There likely will be questions about his textbook free kick goal against D.C. United and he might provide the same answer he did on Wednesday night:
“Even before the free kick, I felt that if I hit it right I knew it would go in,” he said.
Times correspondent Ken Fowler contributed to this report.
