Beckham: Amazing turnaround in his fortunes at Real
As any half-baked actor knows, signing-off in style is just
as important as making a dramatic entrance and David Beckham
could be about to make one of the all-time great stage exits. After
12 years of flying boots, hanging effigies, goals from the halfway
line and last-minute free-kick winners, Beckham has six hours of
football left before the soccer begins.
In those four games the man dubbed a B-list movie star in the
making by his Real Madrid president and who was ruled out of
playing contention indefinitely by his own manager, could have the
last laugh and win the Spanish league. Beckham said after last
weekends 3-2 win over Sevilla that lifted Real one place and two
points behind Barcelona: "Things have changed in the dressing room
and on the pitch. "We are together as a team, there are no
individuals. We are coming back and winning games."
Real could go top for the first time this season on Saturday.
Beckham will be serving a one-match ban but Madrid are still
favourites to see off mid-table Espanyol, who will have next weeks
Uefa Cup Final on their minds. Barcelona play on Sunday and will
return to the top if they beat Real Betis. But the feeling, at
least in Madrid, is that Real have the momentum to overtake their
rivals before the season ends on June 17. But the old Italian
general has survived and marshalled his troops well enough away
from home where Real have won more points than in any season in
their 105-year history to have them still on the leaders
shoulder in the home straight.
Going out of other competitions early has also left them with the
freshest squad going into the last five matches. Beckham is fresher
than most, thanks to a mid-winter break that lasted five weeks.
After Beckham agreed terms with MLS side LA Galaxy at the start of
the year, Capello said that the Englishman would not play for Real
again. "I cannot trust someone who has already signed with another
club," he stated. But after a month of poor results the boss caved
in and recalled him. In his first game back, the ex-England captain
scored in a 2-1 win at Real Sociedad.
Having won his place back once, he had to do it again after a knee
injury ruled him out for six weeks, but he came off the bench to
inspire a 2-1 win over Valencia three weeks ago, was man of the
match the following week away to Athletic Bilbao and was
inspirational again last week against Sevilla. He even seems to
have found a balance between his two preferred positions playing
on the right of a four-man midfield but encouraged to drift infield
and compensate for the creative deficiencies there.
Real have won their last three games since his return, scoring nine
goals. With Barcelona facing a tricky trip to Atletico Madrid in a
fortnight having won only twice on their travels, Madrid will be
full of hope. Maybe Beckham wishes he hadnt signed that
$250million contract after all. Real fans dont want him to leave.
His is one of only three names sung at the Bernabeu home-grown
Guti and Raul being the others and the club have all but admitted
they messed up when they failed to extend his contract.
Asked after last weeks win if he regretted his decision to quit,
he gave the politically correct answer but there was a sense it was
starting to dawn on him that it will soon be 10,000, not 80,000,
fans watching him. "Im going to cherish my last games as a Real
Madrid player," he said. "I am always going to miss the big nights
but everybody moves on." As big nights go, June 17 at home to
Mallorca could take some beating, even by Beckhams
standards.