This Article is From Mar 16, 2010

Beckham's heel hurt, but not visibility

Beckham's heel hurt, but not visibility
London: For David Beckham, the World Cup is over before it begins. But in his other career, as a global celebrity, an icon beyond sports, the Beckham bandwagon will roll on.

Even as Beckham had surgery on Monday on his torn Achilles' tendon, his agents were working to ensure that he retains a Page 1 presence. Already by far the richest player in his game, he will take wing, on crutches if need be, to present England's case for staging the 2018 World Cup.

It is one of the myriad roles that - along with juggling his careers on either side of the Atlantic with the Los Angeles Galaxy and AC Milan - might have contributed to the injury he sustained Sunday night in Italy. Medical specialists agree that air miles can take a toll on an athlete, especially one who plays back-to-back seasons on two sides of the ocean and travels the world on his own account to satisfy his sponsors or to promote charitable causes.

Only the surgeon who repaired the torn tendon can best predict the chances of Beckham's ever playing top-level soccer again. But even before the specialist, Dr. Sakari Orava, could so much as examine the tendon - "totally torn" is how he described it after the surgery at his Finnish clinic - Beckham's advisers were setting targets for him to play again, for the Galaxy, before the summer is over.

Defying the odds has long been Beckham's strongest trait. All that he has achieved, all that he and his wife, Victoria, have banked - as the fifth-richest couple on Forbes magazine's money list - is a product of hard, persistent, repetitive work.

He turned his limited talent into a career with three of the world's most illustrious clubs - Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan. He overcame a lack of speed by practicing until he perfected the ability to strike a soccer ball as accurately as Tiger Woods hits a golf ball. His curling free kicks inspired the phrase "bend it like Beckham," and a 2002 movie of that name.

He married into the celebrity world of his pop-star wife, even if that spoiled his relationship with Alex Ferguson, his manager at Manchester United at the time. His comebacks for England created a resume that included playing 115 matches for his national team - more games than any other English non-goalkeeper. He also wore the captain's armband 58 times, an England record.

As the face of many a world brand, from aftershave to hair gel to perfume, and the body of fashion brands down to his underwear, Beckham has used commercial acumen to earn, it is estimated, at least $190 million. So if it is all over for him as a player, one should not think the world has seen the last of him. He has been written off too many times.

When he yelled: "It's broken! It's broken!" as he pulled up lame late in AC Milan's Italian league match against Chievo on Sunday, without an opponent within yards, he probably knew that his World Cup was over.

He may, in any case, travel to South Africa as ambassador for England's bid to host the event in 2018. Not even Nelson Mandela, and certainly not the committee members of FIFA, soccer's world governing body, would decline a handshake or a photo call with David Beckham.

This is in part because of his personality, in part because of his legend. He somehow sustains the impression of a boy thirsting to play one more time for club or country, while at the same time being competitive, even ruthless enough to take the next cap at the expense of younger rivals who line up on England's right wing.

As the club games built up - more than 700 of them at United, Madrid and Milan - so did his carefully managed businesses, his public image, his apparent belief that he was indestructible.

Some see his crossing the Atlantic to Los Angeles as a misadventure. It came when he was low. He felt that Fabio Capello, his coach at Real Madrid, did not respect him as a team player, and when he was approached with the idea of becoming the figure to ignite soccer throughout the United States, he went.

For that, and a reported salary of more than the rest of his team combined.

The offer was made in January 2007, and Beckham was contracted to Real Madrid through June that year. He saw out that season, helping the club win the Spanish title, then came to the United States.

By that time, his perseverance, and his sheer professionalism, had changed Capello's mind. And it was Capello - now England's coach - who wanted Beckham back. He could see Beckham slowing with age but could see no one better at coming off the bench to create a goal with a pinpoint cross.

The problem, Capello said, was that Major League Soccer was no place to sustain the competitive standards required of an England player. To America's dismay, but to England's advantage, Capello's friends at AC Milan suggested a compromise. They would allow Beckham to play for Milan between seasons in Los Angeles. A man for all seasons, a man without rest, Beckham was trapped.

Not unreasonably, he is seen as a man not properly committed to MLS, which pays him more than it has any other individual. Trying to share his time and his aging talents, he now lies injured in a Finnish clinic.

Injured he may be. Idle he cannot be for very long.
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