Beckham back in English thoughts
Dismissed six weeks ago as a haggard soccer diva bound for some gauche soccer colony, David Beckham has revived himself into a curious and viable sort of rescuer for the English national soccer team.
It has startled parts of the continent.
He has appeared on TV since Tuesday night in a clip of a postgame interview, not as an idle has-been at 31 with one foot in Los Angeles with the Galaxy, but as the man of the match in a European Champions League tussle involving Real Madrid of Spain and Bayern Munich of Germany. Having set up all three Real Madrid goals with his trademark passing, Beckham looked reinvigorated.
All of that led to scenes of Steve McClaren before the cameras Wednesday, when England’s national coach resuscitated an issue presumed almost dead: He said Beckham’s recent three-game spate of fine play has ushered the former captain into consideration for re-inclusion onto the England squad.
It poses a “problem,” McClaren told Sky, but “a problem I’d rather have than not have.”
Said Beckham: “My ambition has never changed since the age of 13. I have always wanted to play for my country and always will be available for my country whether I am in Spain for the next four months or in L.A.”
If by some chance Beckham would return to the England team he graced for 10 years and 94 matches before McClaren started omitting him after the World Cup, that could intensify his flight schedule after his expected arrival to the Galaxy come July. England’s Euro 2008 qualifier matches dovetail with Galaxy games on Sept. 8 and Oct. 12, and come on the eve of the Galaxy matches of Sept. 13 and Oct. 18.
Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s president and general manager, returned to Los Angeles from Spain on Monday, having spent the weekend talking to Beckham in Madrid.
Reacting to the possibility of a Beckham recall by England, Lalas said he would be pleased for the player if it happened.
“It’s very obvious when you talk to David that his time representing his country is something that he holds dear,” Lalas said, “and therefore, from our perspective, if this were to happen we would consider it an incredible opportunity and honor for him and wouldn’t stand in the way.”
The fact is, however, that Major League Soccer teams are selling tickets based on Beckham playing this season. And if England qualifies for Euro 2008 and Beckham makes the roster, he could miss a good portion of next season too.
On the night before the Galaxy plays the Red Bulls at home Oct. 18, England will play at Russia, with McClaren by then probably feeling some Moscow heat.
His seven-month tenure as England’s coach thus far has gained note for its wealth of wrath and its lack of a honeymoon. After two wins, one dispiriting loss and one even more dispiriting tie, England lags with Israel and Macedonia in a three-way tie for third in its Euro 2008 group, with only the top two qualifying for the June 2008 event in Austria and Switzerland.
If McClaren yearns for help in March (two qualifiers), June (one), September (two) or October (two), he could always look back on how Beckham has given a little CPR to Fabio Capello when an odder scenario would seem remote.
Just after Beckham signed with the Galaxy on Jan. 11, Capello, the Real Madrid coach whose past teems with major wins and manager-player feuds, declared Beckham wouldn’t play again for Real Madrid even given the four months left on his contract. The Italian coach excluded Beckham from six straight games.
As Real Madrid struggled in fourth place, not a spot its supporters tend to envision, Capello announced Feb. 9 that he would reinsert Beckham as a starter rather than the substitute role he had frequented pre-exile.
“We doubted he could train with the same enthusiasm ...” Capello told reporters, “but he has been training perfectly. I’m counting on him until the end of the season.”
Beckham has looked younger since. He has scored on a free kick that sneaked around the Real Sociedad wall and under the goalkeeper in a 2-1 win. . The sports daily Marca has declared: “Beckham Spares The Life of His Executioner.”
He has picked up two bookings (one yellow, one straight red) for eager recklessness. He has paced Real Madrid to a win in the first of two matches with Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16. He has heard the fans chant his surname in a way they haven’t since he arrived in 2003.
And he has revved McClaren’s interest.
“A month ago he would never play again for Real Madrid, and there he is starring in the game against Bayern Munich and being the man of the match,” McClaren told Sky.
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Times staff writer Grahame L. Jones contributed to this report.
