Beckham’s debut in doubt
David Beckham took a ride on one of Philip Anschutz’s corporate jets to Colorado on Thursday evening to watch the best of Major League Soccer defeat the best of Scotland, reigning Scottish Premier League champion Celtic, 2-0, at the annual MLS All-Star game.
Accompanied by Landon Donovan and Cobi Jones, Beckham then took the same aircraft back to Los Angeles so that the three could resume training today for Saturday’s sold-out Galaxy match against Chelsea at the Home Depot Center.
But the question that was on many minds remained unanswered.
Will Beckham make his Galaxy debut this weekend?
“At the moment it doesn’t look good that I’m going to play,” Beckham told ESPN’s Rob Stone in a halftime television interview, adding that his left ankle still is swollen and still is receiving treatment for an injury he suffered June 7 while playing for England.
“I’m here for five years,” Beckham said. “I’m not here, obviously, just for the game on Saturday. It’s more important to me personally that my ankle is right, and I don’t think it’ll be right for the game.
“Maybe I will play some part toward the end of the game if it’s all right, but we’ll see.”
Beckham was not made available to the media attending the All-Star game, which drew a sellout crowd of 18,661 to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. First-half goals by Colombians Juan Pablo Angel of the New York Red Bulls and Juan Toja of FC Dallas provided the difference in a match that also saw the Galaxy’s Jones and Real Salt Lake’s Eddie Pope make their final All-Star appearances.
Both players are original members of MLS, and both will retire at season’s end.
As he pointed out, Beckham will be around a while longer, and hence some caution is called for in the matter of playing friendly matches such as Saturday’s game against English F.A. Cup holders Chelsea.
But the pressures on the Galaxy are immense, what with tickets having been sold on the assumption that Beckham will play and with ESPN planning extensive, almost extravagant, 19-camera coverage of the England midfielder’s eagerly awaited debut.
Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s president and general manager, said at the All-Star game that outside pressures from television, sponsors and the like would not factor into the final decision on whether Beckham would make an appearance.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “Absolutely not.
“It’s ultimately up to our coaching staff and our medical staff to evaluate our players and to do what’s right for the player and to do what’s right for the team. Not just for the short term but for the long term.
“We all understand that there is an incredible amount of interest in this game from television and from sponsors, but this is sports. This is not a robot running around that you just turn on. The sponsors understand that, and television understands that. Regardless if David Beckham is or isn’t on the field, it’s going to be a wonderful moment for us Saturday and I think we all hope that he does get on the field at some point.”
The risk of aggravating the ankle injury exists, however, and Lalas said the Galaxy was well aware of that.
“We’re not going to risk it if we believe that the amount of time that he does or does not play is going to affect him further on down the line,” Lalas said. “It’s a big game, it’s an important game, but guess what, there’s going to be another one the next week and another one the following week.”
The British media have taken pains in the last few days to point out just how weak the Galaxy appeared in a 3-0 loss to Tigres UANL of Mexico on Tuesday night in Carson and have suggested that Beckham has made a huge mistake in coming to MLS.
But New England Revolution Coach Steve Nicol, who had charge of the MLS All-Stars, dismissed such criticism as uninformed and irrelevant.
“Beckham was the captain of England in the World Cup. He’s only 32 and he’s a Rolls-Royce coming into this league. What he can do is up [improve] the ability, professionalism and desire of everyone around him.
“The guy’s a player.”
