David Beckham played his first game for AC Milan on Sunday, a 2-2 draw against Roma in Italy’s Serie A. (Which, by the way, had more goals than the Eagles-Giants NFL playoff game had touchdowns: 4 to 2).
Beckham is playing for Milan on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy for the next two months, until the Major League Soccer season begins. He wants to maintain his fitness so he can stay in the England national team’s plans for World Cup qualifying matches.
It was a surprise that Beckham started so soon after joining Milan’s training. Reports were that he was out of shape and, if he played Sunday, it would only be as a substitute. But Beckham played 89 minutes.
Overall, he played well on the right side of midfield. He sprung a few passes for fellow superstars Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato and Kaka. He even was directly behind Pato when Pato received a crossing pass for a tap-in goal to tie the game 1-1. If Pato somehow whiffs, Beckham was there for the goal.
But while watching the game Sunday, my biggest thought wasn’t about how well Beckham played. It was about how fortunate soccer fans are nowadays to be able to watch an Italian Serie A game – actually, several of them – every week.
And English, German, Argentinian, and even Australian league games.
Not so long ago, it was difficult to find soccer on TV. Even the U.S. national team played in relative secrecy. You virtually had to go to the U.S. Soccer team’s matches if you wanted to see them.
Which I did, to places such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Washington. I figured the U.S. games probably wouldn’t be on TV, and would get scant attention in my local newspapers. So I just traveled wherever they played, within a day’s drive.
NASL games were rarely on TV. Of course, they played back in the day when there were only three major networks. An NASL game of the week once in a while was a rare treat.
Until the early 1990s, American soccer fans never saw club matches from Europe, unless they had a satellite dish.
Now, with Fox Soccer Channel, Setanta Sports, Gol TV, and even ESPN and our local Fox Sports affiliates, we can see the best soccer players in the world as much as we want.
And with a soccer bar in just about every city (Molly Brannigans in Erie), there is plenty of opportunity for soccer fans.
When I heard Beckham would dress for Sunday’s game at Roma, I actually expected it to be on TV.
What a great era soccer fans live in today.