Whether or not you think David Beckham’s soccer skills are overrated, give him credit for wanting to play.
Beckham joins AC Milan this week on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy. He joined the Italian club in an effort to stay fit so he can be chosen for England’s World Cup qualifiers.
England manager Fabio Capello has said, flat out, that if Beckham is not playing, he won’t be called into the England squad. And the Brits might smirk that Major League Soccer is equivalent to not playing at all.
So for the next couple of months, Beckham will play for AC Milan, then return to the Galaxy on March 9 for the MLS season.
That makes 3-plus full years of nearly non-stop playing for Beckham.
Most big stars plead for breaks in the already full calendar of league and cup games, and national team qualifiers and competitions. Beckham does the opposite. He looks for the next place he can play — sometimes to his detriment.
Last year, he rushed his attempts to make an impact in the United States by joining the Galaxy while still nursing a badly injured foot. Beckham played hurt while helping Real Madrid to the Spanish league title.
Now, Beckham’s next scheduled break is November 2009, just about the time England could qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
Some world soccer experts, especially skeptics of MLS, are saying Beckham’s Milan stint is the beginning of a possible transfer to the Italian club — thus returning to a high-quality brand of soccer.
We’ll see.
Soccer hazardous to pigeon
In the fowl of the year, a pigeon was killed when it was struck by a ball during a game in Argentina.
Give San Lorenzo defender Gaston Aguirre credit for having a soft spot for the bird.
“I kicked the ball and, poor pigeon,” Aguirre said.
After the bird collapsed and died, the referee picked it up and removed it from the field.
Hopefully he had some hand sanitizer in his pocket.
Manchester United wins Club World Cup
Wayne Rooney scored in the 73rd minute to lift Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over Liga de Quito, of Ecuador, in the championship game of the Club World Cup on Sunday in Yokohama, Japan.