While David Beckham is "devastated" not to play the leading man against Chelsea tonight, his concerns over a swollen ankle have been endorsed by Jose Mourinho, who said the Los Angeles Galaxy player had to be aware of a "pain limit and a consequence limit".
There remains a remote chance that Beckham could stage a brief, ceremonial cameo in tonight's game, but his admission that his prospects did "not look good" sent Major League Soccer's publicity machine into turmoil. Even during Thursday night's All-Star game in Denver, where Beckham appeared for host broadcaster ESPN, his club were still running portentous adverts proclaiming: "The wait is over - Beckham is part of your Galaxy."
Instead, the wait goes on, as Beckham enters the seventh week of his recovery from an ankle injury sustained on England duty against Estonia. Should Beckham feel the commercial price is too great for him not to run out in the Chelsea match, which concludes the clubs' 'World Series of Football', Mourinho insisted his players would "not kick him". The manager promised: "If he is on for 10 minutes and we are winning the trophy, then we will let him play for free and will make a free-kick for him to score."
Suddenly more earnest, Mourinho also supported Beckham's wish not to jeopardise his Galaxy career by playing too soon. "History is full of these situations," he said. "When I was a child I heard dozens of stories about Eusebio, who was injured but had to play a certain game because of the cachet of the match. Pele, too, was always involved in tense situations.
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There remains a remote chance that Beckham could stage a brief, ceremonial cameo in tonight's game, but his admission that his prospects did "not look good" sent Major League Soccer's publicity machine into turmoil. Even during Thursday night's All-Star game in Denver, where Beckham appeared for host broadcaster ESPN, his club were still running portentous adverts proclaiming: "The wait is over - Beckham is part of your Galaxy."
Instead, the wait goes on, as Beckham enters the seventh week of his recovery from an ankle injury sustained on England duty against Estonia. Should Beckham feel the commercial price is too great for him not to run out in the Chelsea match, which concludes the clubs' 'World Series of Football', Mourinho insisted his players would "not kick him". The manager promised: "If he is on for 10 minutes and we are winning the trophy, then we will let him play for free and will make a free-kick for him to score."
Suddenly more earnest, Mourinho also supported Beckham's wish not to jeopardise his Galaxy career by playing too soon. "History is full of these situations," he said. "When I was a child I heard dozens of stories about Eusebio, who was injured but had to play a certain game because of the cachet of the match. Pele, too, was always involved in tense situations.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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