David Beckham news

22 April 2011

Speaking with reporters today after the Los Angeles Galaxy’s practice, David Beckham expressed his delight in his former club, Real Madrid, pulling off a big win against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

“It was great to see, being a Real Madrid fan, seeing them win that game. It’s important - the Spanish Cup is obviously important in Spain, to get that trophy, especially with the games that are coming up against Barcelona, it’s an important one,” said Beckham. “Barcelona is a great team, they’re probably the best team of their generation, besides Manchester United.”

Beckham joined Real Madrid in 2003 for 25 million pounds and played for the team for four seasons. While he was considered by most supporters of the club to be an average player, Beckham managed to win the league title withLos Merengues in 2007, his final season at the capital club. Having experienced El Clasico first hand, the 35-year-old acknowledges that gaining confidence is crucial in the rivalry. He is anxious to see whether or not Real Madrid can continue its progress against Barcelona in its upcoming Champions League matches.

“When you’re playing against teams like Barcelona, you need every bit of confidence,” said Beckham. “When you’ve got that in games, it pushes things on and that might be enough for Real Madrid. Barcelona has such great players, it’s a great experience. They’ve got two games coming up, and they’ll be tough.”

goal.com

*************************

On April 29, a week from Friday, the LA Galaxy midfielder will attend the royal wedding in London between Britain's Prince William and fiance Kate Middleton.

The next day, Beckham will be in Texas for the Galaxy's Major League Soccer game Sunday against FC Dallas.

In other words, Beckham will be accomplishing the rare, if not unique, Westminster Abbey-Pizza Hut Park doubleheader. Talk about your contrasts.

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena is not thrilled by the whole thing but understands the priorities in play.

"Obviously, it's not ideal with the travel, but it's a royal wedding and those don't come around very often," Beckham said Thursday after practice in Carson. "So I'll be there for the game, but it'll be down to Bruce to decide if I play or not.

"I'll go to the wedding on Friday and then I'll fly out of London straight to Dallas on Saturday morning. I'll arrive before the [Galaxy] team. I'm used to the travel. I'll speak to the manager. It'll be down to the manager to see how I feel on the day of the game and I'll do everything right and do everything that is best for the team.

"Bruce understands and the club understands that obviously it's important. He knows that I'll be sacrificing the travel to turn up in Dallas. Bruce said to me, 'Do you want to not go to the game?' But it's important to me, it's important to the players, that they see me there."

Beckham said he and his wife, Victoria, and their three sons all would travel to London, but the children would not attend the wedding. Meanwhile, Arena said he was more concerned about Saturday night's match against the Portland Timbers than about anything Beckham might be up to.

"I don't comment on his social calendar," Arena said. "David's playing against Dallas.