David Beckham missed another training session with the Los
Angeles Galaxy on Monday because of a nagging left ankle injury
that left him doubtful for the team's opening game in the SuperLiga
tournament.
The inaugural event, featuring four Major League Soccer teams
and four teams from Mexico's first division, opens Tuesday night,
with the Galaxy hosting defending Mexican League champion Pachuca
and Chivas visiting FC Dallas.
Beckham had been scheduled to attend Monday's news conference in
Hollywood, but he stayed away to continue treatment. He has yet to
participate in full training since joining the team on July 13.
"We can't keep running him around, dragging him to press
conferences and events," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "We just
want him to get better."
However, Beckham's injury didn't prevent him and wife Victoria
from attending a celebrity-studded welcome party Sunday night at a
downtown Los Angeles museum. The bash, hosted by Tom Cruise and
Will Smith, lasted into the early morning hours.
"He is a very professional guy," Garber said. "He's not going to
do anything that he doesn't think is going to support his ability
to get better."
The English superstar played 16 minutes, including four minutes
of stoppage time, in a 1-0 loss to Chelsea in his Galaxy debut
Saturday night. The highlight was a corner kick he took near the
end of the game.
ESPN reported a preliminary overnight rating of 1.2 for the game
in the nation's largest markets, six times its MLS average this
year. When final numbers are released Tuesday, it could be the
cable network's highest-rated telecast involving a MLS team. The
rating is the percentage watching a telecast among homes that
receive ESPN.
Garber said the ratings, sold-out attendance of 27,000, and
domestic and international media interest was more than MLS had
expected.
"It shows that people have a real desire to see the sport get a
lot of attention," he said. "If you deliver the right things - good
players, high-quality competition, some interesting side stories -
than we have a chance to really break out of some of the clutter
that exists in pro sports."
But first, the league needs Beckham in the lineup on a regular
basis.
Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said that if Beckham is able to play
at all Tuesday night, it wouldn't be until late in the game.
"We don't want to make it worse, and he's still a little bit
sore," the coach said. "We're forever hopeful he'd be back in a
uniform and running out for us as soon as he can -- next weekend or
the following Tuesday."
More realistic for Beckham is the team's second SuperLiga game
against Chivas on Saturday. It has been moved to the Los Angeles
Coliseum to handle an expected huge crowd.
Beckham's injury has "certainly added to the drama of what's
been going on here the last week or so and for the next couple of
weeks," Garber said.
The commissioner denied that pressure was exerted from sponsors
and ESPN to get Beckham into Saturday's game.
"That just couldn't be further from the truth," Garber said.
"Look at what we would look like if we had sponsor or commercial
pressures forcing him to play a game, and having him get injured
and never playing again. We'd be pretty dumb."
Beckham's biggest problem is swelling in his ankle, Yallop
said.
"It's really tight in there," he said. "He was uncomfortable on
Saturday, you could tell. It's going to be a little bit sore when
he's playing, but not as sore as it was on Saturday. That's what
we're trying to get to."
Beckham's designated stand-in at the news conference, defender
Abel Xavier, didn't make it, either. The Galaxy had no players in
attendance.
Garber acknowledged the league has "been putting a lot of
pressure" on Galaxy players to do promotion, but his message to the
team Monday was "practice and beat Pachuca."
The SuperLiga tournament features two four-team groups playing
round-robin matches, with the top two teams from each group meeting
in the semifinals Aug. 14-15. The final is Aug. 29, with the
winning team earning $1 million - the largest soccer purse in North
America history.
Besides the Galaxy and FC Dallas, the other MLS teams are
four-time league champion D.C. United and last year's champion
Houston. The Mexican club teams are Club America, Chivas, Pachuca
and Morelia.
(China Daily via AP July 24, 2007)