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Beckham rejoins Galaxy, will miss Chivas match for Olympic closing ceremonies

Beckham (Reuters Pictures)

The first part of David Beckham's Olympic adventure is complete, and he has returned to the Los Angeles Galaxy in time to face his former club yet again.

Beckham rejoined Galaxy training Wednesday and will be available for selection when the defending MLS Cup champions take on Cristiano Ronaldo and La Liga winners Real Madrid at the Home Depot Center as part of the World Football Challenge Thursday night (10:30 p.m., ESPN2/ESPN3.com). 

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Beckham, who commuted to and from the MLS All-Star Game from London and participated in the opening ceremonies for the Olympics by driving a speedboat down the River Thames to deliver the torch to the Olympic Stadium.

Even though he should be available to play Thursday night and this weekend in the Galaxy's crucial match against the Seattle Sounders, Beckham's involvement with the Olympics is not over.

Beckham told reporters that he will be returning to London for the Aug. 12 closing ceremonies, meaning that he will miss the team's third and final match of the season against rival Chivas USA, which is being held on the same day. He missed the club's 1-0 victory over FC Dallas last weekend as well.

Beckham, an MLS Best XI selection last year, has been playing at his highest level of the season recently, scoring three goals and assisting on four others during league games in July and helping set up the game-tying goal in the MLS All-Star Game. He has played in 18 of the Galaxy's 23 games this season and has scored six goals, a single-season high for him during his time in MLS.

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Are you OK with Beckham missing two matches — including a rivalry bout with playoff implications — for both Olympic ceremonies? What did you think of his role in the opening ceremonies? Looking forward to the Galaxy-Madrid clash tonight?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. You have no idea what you are talking about. As an employee of the Galaxy, I can say without a shred of doubt that there is no more dedicated athlete than David Beckham!! He is fully committed to the team and his teammates!! He leads by example and gives 100% at all times. He is loved by virtually every member of the team and the entire organization.
    BTW, he has earned every penny he’s been paid since joining MLS..
    Finally, would you like some cheese with your whine??

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  2. I meant tangible results in the time he is missing. Anyway, comment section is hardly a place for me to present a well researched argument. I think he is a good player that clearly does what he wants…I am not losing sleep over it.

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  3. I agree last season he was great. How would you rate his entire time at LA though? Maybe great..? I don’t know…but you can’t cherry pick time frames to assess him…look at the whole. I’d say on whole (entiretime at LA) he has been a very good player, not great…unreliable on availability due to injuries and celebrity appearances.

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  4. this is just foolish. nick you weren’t kidding when you said you dont follow the galaxy lol. he was their best player in a championship season last year. how is that not a tangible result again?

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  5. he turned down a massive contract to play for a champions league candidate to stay in MLS. no one is being played. he’d miss a match or two regardless due to his age, as his did last season multiple times

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  6. grow up. your statement is so uncalled for and untrue. he’s done more good for other people in 37 years than you could in 10 lifetimes. philanthropist, unicef ambassador, committed to his country and family. turned down a chance to live in paris, compete in the champions league once more and make tons of money to return to the galaxy. you also have your numbers wrong. if you are going to waste your time talking smack about celebrities find one that isn’t such a great citizen.

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  7. Beckham can miss this many games because the regular season in the MLS is pretty meaningless. The MLS regular season is about playoff seeding. This is why hardly anyone pays attention to the regular season. The playoffs don’t get much interest either. I guess this is what happens when you have NFL guys running a soccer league?

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  8. As Galaxy supporters we’re all very well aware that David Beckham is one of a kind in that he is a player for our team, an ambassador for MLS and a global icon. I don’t think any Galaxy fan questions his commitment to this team, MLS or soccer in the US because he misses a couple games every season. Go on Beckham.

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  9. Beckham is a great player and when he’s on the field works hard to help his team. So what he’s going to closing ceremonies? What’s the big deal? Bottom line as long as he assists Galaxy to get a championship again they will be happy.

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  10. Beckham sees his mission to promote MLS (and Galaxy)…not necessarily on the field. He also realizes he can do whatever he wants, more power to him. If I was a Galaxy fan, I would be annoyed for sure…but I am not a Galaxy fan, so I don’t care.

    If my job paid me to travel around ‘promote’ the company rather than produce tangible results…I’m pretty sure I’d take them up on it 🙂 Beckham is just taking advantage of what the Galaxy are allowing him to do…can you blame him?

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  11. Seems clear he IS loyal to MLS, or else he would have signed with PSG when he had the opportunity. That was potentially a massive payday for him. At the very least, he’s loyal to his family, who seem happy in LA.

    And really, “Scumbag”? Take it easy.

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  12. Even with this un-nessessary stuff, he is worth every cent to LA imho. Although it would be nice to have one season w/o interuptions and playing as well as he has been.

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  13. The Olympics is an unnecessary event?? What other events does he constantly fly to Eurpore for? (Wimbledon while on a red card suspension)

    It was probably written into his contract that he would be absent for the Olympics.

    Beckham isn’t the Galaxy. They do fine without him.

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  14. When he’s on the field, Beckham is a tremendous asset, but his decisions about priorities — and the club’s acquiescence — have always perplexed me. His participation in the Olympic ceremonies is completely unnecessary and discretionary on his part, given his exclusion from the GB squad. He plays in the All-Star Game and a friendly — for which I applaud him — but misses two MLS matches? I have no real interest, as I’m not a Galaxy supporter, but it just makes the club (and, by extension, MLS) look like they’re being played.

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  15. Also…he gave up around 1mill a month for some 18million dollar or so PSG contract to stay with LA which paid nothing close to that.
    1- It was to keep family in LA
    2- It was to stay with the team and keep moving MLS ahead (so later when he buys his own team it will be more valuable)
    3- It was also because with LA he was able to get in his contract he could leave as needed for the olympics which he worked hard to bring to London. He was hoping to be on the team…but nothing wrong with supporting his nation and city like this and maybe get a Knighthood out of it at some point 😉

    So, a HUGE reason that LA was able to keep him for a much lower price was the 2 year LA deal AND the fact he had the pre-approved time to be away for the Olympic duties and a sports ambassador for London and the games. If he went with PSG they might not have allowed him to leave the summer training for the Olympics had he been picked or even for the role he has now.

    He would have been away much longer had he been on team GB so its fine for LA to have him for the matches they have and better then they thought were he signed the contract. The sad part is…had he gone with one of the EPL offers or PSG…the coach might have thought he was on a “real” team and playing at the level needed. My guess is the GB coach doesnt (and wrongly) rate the MLS level of play so didnt think that Becks could still hang at the top level (which is also silly given the number of MLS guys on some of the olympic teams from CONCACAF). The biggest goal of Becks was to play for his country again and without being able to make the international team and the next world cup this team was going to be his last and still great chance to play especially with the games in his home town. Staying with LA not only cost him millions but also might have been part of the reason he wasnt selected for Team GB for one of the 3 slots…so…he has given more then most to stay with LA….missing 2 or 3 games is not that big of a deal all things considered.

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  16. Maybe they and the league are part of the reason why he wasn’t selected for GB. The All-Star game would not have been the same without him.

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  17. Actually with his new contact he makes a shade under $4m a year…3,999,999.66…

    Its between him and the club…if they are okay with it then so be it….

    I have never been a big fan of Beckham myself, but sheesh to take hate to an extreme…

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  18. This guy gets $6.5 million per year to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. What a scumbag. He has no sense of loyalty to his employers whatsoever.

    Commitments to the Olympics? HE’S COMMITTED TO EARN HIS $6.5 MILLION and has CONSTANTLY abandoned his team voluntarily to fly to Europe for completely unnecessary events!

    The Beckham apologists know no bounds. I know because I used to be one. I’m glad I’m not blind to it anymore. He loves no one more than he loves himself and could not care less about his teammates or MLS.

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  19. The Galaxy were probably assuming he’d be selected for Team GB and gone even longer, so I’m sure they happy as clams having him drop in and out as he’s been doing.

    When you’re flying first class, taking multiple long-haul flights isn’t so bad, I would imagine.

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  20. As long as let the club know of this before hand, I don’t see any issues with Beckham missing another game because of his commitments to the London Olympics. The Galaxy should be happy that he wasn’t chosen to play on the GB team and that there are no injury risks involved.

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