David Beckham finally made his debut for Los Angeles Galaxy. The game was, appropriately, against English team Chelsea. The west London giants, English champions in 2005 and 2006, are on a tour of California before the new season starts on 11th August. Beckham's England team-mate scored Chelsea's winning goal.
Beckham faces another fitness fight as Galaxy lose to Chelsea
22nd July 2007
Daily Mail
Los Angeles Galaxy 0-1 Chelsea
......................................................Terry 49
Teams:
LA Galaxy: Cannon, Roberts, Xavier, Harden, Jazik, Jones, Gray, Donovan, Martino, Pavon, Gordon.
(Subs: Cronin, Buddle, Glinton, Kirk, Vagenas, Beckham, Caso}
****************
Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Haim, Wright-Phillips, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou, Drogba.
(Subs: Cudicini, Hilario, Johnson, Hutchinson, Cork, Makelele, Mikel Obi, Sidwell, Cole, Sinclair, Shevchenko)
David Beckham must play another waiting game on his injured ankle after making his Los Angeles Galaxy debut against Chelsea.
Beckham came off the bench for the final 12 minutes at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, and touched the ball 10 times to the delight of a sell-out crowd of 27,000.
Good workout: David Beckham was satisfied with LA Galaxy's performance against Chelsea
The debut was a losing one as John Terry, his successor as England captain, scored the only goal of the game in the 49th minute, the Chelsea defender firing home from the edge of the area.
And there was an anxious moment in stoppage time when Blues midfielder Steve Sidwell brought Beckham down with a challenge that left the England star grimacing on the floor and clutching his ankles.
Beckham's left ankle, sprained on June 6 while playing for England against Estonia and aggravated with ligament damage in his final games for Real Madrid the following week, had prevented him from playing a full part in training with his new team since arriving in Los Angeles nine days ago.
Beckham revealed his participation had finally been sanctioned just hours before kick-off but he now faces another anxious wait to see if he will pass fit to face Mexican side Pachuca on Tuesday night in the new SuperLiga tournament.
"The decision was made this morning," Beckham said. "I came in and we decided that there was no way I would be able to start the game, I would play some part of the game but with me not training all week and not even kicking a football and not even really running, to be honest, all I had done was some deep massage.
"But I'm really pleased because I wanted to be out there and I put a lot emphasis on the game tonight.
My ankle has swollen up slightly but that was going to happen anyway, so we'll see how it is tomorrow.
"It's just one of those injuries that footballers get. Everybody knows I sprained it in the England game and I played four days after and pulled the ligaments. Then I had the last game of the season a week after and I had three injections to numb it and I played in that game without any feeling in my foot.
"So there were always going to be problems after that but that's what I wanted to do to play in that game.
"You're always going to have a reaction to that and that's what I'm getting. It's been five weeks since that last game and this sort of injury usually takes six or seven weeks. It's getting a lot better, the swelling has gone down from two or three days ago, gone down a lot and it's making progress.
"It's not a serious injury."
His appearance brought to an end a week of speculation surrounding his fitness.
"It was nice to get out there and kick a soccer ball again," Beckham said. "I hadn't trained all week and the first time I kicked a ball was today.
"It was nice to be out there with the lads and to get this game over and done with. I've enjoyed it."
Beckham also praised his Galaxy team-mates for their effort against Jose Mourinho's side.
"It was a good performance, because when you play against a team the quality of Chelsea where every player is comfortable on the ball, every player wants the ball and is capable of doing something in the game.
"We kept them to 1-0 and we had chances as well."
Mourinho said he was pleased to have notched a third win in three games at the start of Chelsea's pre-season campaign and also for the Galaxy's star debutant.
The Chelsea boss said: "It was a good game for Beckham because people in the US saw that he could pass two, three, 40 metres, that his right foot has highs and it was also very good because they gave a difficult match to a team like Chelsea.
"So it was a nice day for him and for us too. I'm happy. We came here and won three matches, against a Mexican team, a Korean team and an American team, so different cultures of football. Now we go to Europe and will play Rangers, Feyenoord, Brondby, so I think we've prepared our pre-season well."
Both Mourinho and Beckham said they had no problem with an injury-time challenge on the former England captain by Chelsea substitute Sidwell.
Mourinho said: "The ball with Sidwell I can understand. It was with a kid who has just arrived at the club, he wanted to show me a lot and that I can understand. If it was with Lampard there would probably have not been contact."
Beckham added: "I saw him coming and I jumped just in time, so my foot wasn't actually planted when he hit me.
"I got up and you expect that in games. He's a competitive player, it's going to be his first start of the season, he's a good player, he's done well in the Premiership so far and now he's playing for a club like Chelsea so he's going to want to smash some people along the way, even if it's in a friendly.
Unfortunately it was me tonight but that's fine. That's part and parcel of being a footballer."
It is all about one man at the Home Depot Centre on a lovely Los Angeles day as LA Galaxy host Chelsea in a friendly
-----------------------
And there he is - David Beckham, saviour of "soccer" in the USA
----------------------
Victoria Beckham returns her husband's wave from up in the posh seats, where it is packed to bursting with famous faces
-------------------
Beckham isn't too popular, though, with the Chelsea fans
------------------
Finally a match breaks out, but Becks throws a longing glance somewhere else while his new buddies focus on the action
----------------------
Oh yes, the soccer. Chelsea and England captain John Terry celebrates scoring the only goal of the game on 49 minutes
-----------------------
And finally, after 78 minutes, here comes the main man
--------------------
The new boy limps through 12 minutes on his dodgy ankle
---------------------
A collective gasp goes up as Becks goes down in agony after a tackle from Chelsea's own new midfielder Steve Sidwell
----------------------
But Beckham's OK at the final whistle of his much-anticipated Stateside soccer debut. Thanks for coming everyone
dailymail.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
Beckham faces another fitness fight as Galaxy lose to Chelsea
22nd July 2007
Daily Mail
Los Angeles Galaxy 0-1 Chelsea
......................................................Terry 49
Teams:
LA Galaxy: Cannon, Roberts, Xavier, Harden, Jazik, Jones, Gray, Donovan, Martino, Pavon, Gordon.
(Subs: Cronin, Buddle, Glinton, Kirk, Vagenas, Beckham, Caso}
****************
Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Haim, Wright-Phillips, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou, Drogba.
(Subs: Cudicini, Hilario, Johnson, Hutchinson, Cork, Makelele, Mikel Obi, Sidwell, Cole, Sinclair, Shevchenko)
David Beckham must play another waiting game on his injured ankle after making his Los Angeles Galaxy debut against Chelsea.
Beckham came off the bench for the final 12 minutes at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, and touched the ball 10 times to the delight of a sell-out crowd of 27,000.
Good workout: David Beckham was satisfied with LA Galaxy's performance against Chelsea
The debut was a losing one as John Terry, his successor as England captain, scored the only goal of the game in the 49th minute, the Chelsea defender firing home from the edge of the area.
And there was an anxious moment in stoppage time when Blues midfielder Steve Sidwell brought Beckham down with a challenge that left the England star grimacing on the floor and clutching his ankles.
Beckham's left ankle, sprained on June 6 while playing for England against Estonia and aggravated with ligament damage in his final games for Real Madrid the following week, had prevented him from playing a full part in training with his new team since arriving in Los Angeles nine days ago.
Beckham revealed his participation had finally been sanctioned just hours before kick-off but he now faces another anxious wait to see if he will pass fit to face Mexican side Pachuca on Tuesday night in the new SuperLiga tournament.
"The decision was made this morning," Beckham said. "I came in and we decided that there was no way I would be able to start the game, I would play some part of the game but with me not training all week and not even kicking a football and not even really running, to be honest, all I had done was some deep massage.
"But I'm really pleased because I wanted to be out there and I put a lot emphasis on the game tonight.
My ankle has swollen up slightly but that was going to happen anyway, so we'll see how it is tomorrow.
"It's just one of those injuries that footballers get. Everybody knows I sprained it in the England game and I played four days after and pulled the ligaments. Then I had the last game of the season a week after and I had three injections to numb it and I played in that game without any feeling in my foot.
"So there were always going to be problems after that but that's what I wanted to do to play in that game.
"You're always going to have a reaction to that and that's what I'm getting. It's been five weeks since that last game and this sort of injury usually takes six or seven weeks. It's getting a lot better, the swelling has gone down from two or three days ago, gone down a lot and it's making progress.
"It's not a serious injury."
His appearance brought to an end a week of speculation surrounding his fitness.
"It was nice to get out there and kick a soccer ball again," Beckham said. "I hadn't trained all week and the first time I kicked a ball was today.
"It was nice to be out there with the lads and to get this game over and done with. I've enjoyed it."
Beckham also praised his Galaxy team-mates for their effort against Jose Mourinho's side.
"It was a good performance, because when you play against a team the quality of Chelsea where every player is comfortable on the ball, every player wants the ball and is capable of doing something in the game.
"We kept them to 1-0 and we had chances as well."
Mourinho said he was pleased to have notched a third win in three games at the start of Chelsea's pre-season campaign and also for the Galaxy's star debutant.
The Chelsea boss said: "It was a good game for Beckham because people in the US saw that he could pass two, three, 40 metres, that his right foot has highs and it was also very good because they gave a difficult match to a team like Chelsea.
"So it was a nice day for him and for us too. I'm happy. We came here and won three matches, against a Mexican team, a Korean team and an American team, so different cultures of football. Now we go to Europe and will play Rangers, Feyenoord, Brondby, so I think we've prepared our pre-season well."
Both Mourinho and Beckham said they had no problem with an injury-time challenge on the former England captain by Chelsea substitute Sidwell.
Mourinho said: "The ball with Sidwell I can understand. It was with a kid who has just arrived at the club, he wanted to show me a lot and that I can understand. If it was with Lampard there would probably have not been contact."
Beckham added: "I saw him coming and I jumped just in time, so my foot wasn't actually planted when he hit me.
"I got up and you expect that in games. He's a competitive player, it's going to be his first start of the season, he's a good player, he's done well in the Premiership so far and now he's playing for a club like Chelsea so he's going to want to smash some people along the way, even if it's in a friendly.
Unfortunately it was me tonight but that's fine. That's part and parcel of being a footballer."
It is all about one man at the Home Depot Centre on a lovely Los Angeles day as LA Galaxy host Chelsea in a friendly
-----------------------
And there he is - David Beckham, saviour of "soccer" in the USA
----------------------
Victoria Beckham returns her husband's wave from up in the posh seats, where it is packed to bursting with famous faces
-------------------
Beckham isn't too popular, though, with the Chelsea fans
------------------
Finally a match breaks out, but Becks throws a longing glance somewhere else while his new buddies focus on the action
----------------------
Oh yes, the soccer. Chelsea and England captain John Terry celebrates scoring the only goal of the game on 49 minutes
-----------------------
And finally, after 78 minutes, here comes the main man
--------------------
The new boy limps through 12 minutes on his dodgy ankle
---------------------
A collective gasp goes up as Becks goes down in agony after a tackle from Chelsea's own new midfielder Steve Sidwell
----------------------
But Beckham's OK at the final whistle of his much-anticipated Stateside soccer debut. Thanks for coming everyone
dailymail.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
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