British soccer star David Beckham, who joined the Los Angeles Galaxy club
last week, may fail to make his scheduled Galaxy debut this weekend because of
an injured ankle, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Beckham, one
of the world's most celebrated soccer players, was scheduled to make his long
anticipated debut for the Galaxy against Chelsea at the Home Depot Center in Los
Angeles, but his left ankle is swollen and sore, according to the newspaper.
For Beckham to sit out Saturday's
matchup would be a disappointment for thousands of fans. The Galaxy announced
over the weekend that the match against Chelsea -- with tickets priced from 60
to 500 dollars -- was a sellout.
Beckham donned a Galaxy uniform
for the first time Monday but did not participate fully in the team's
workout. He did 45 minutes of very
light work, either alone with trainer Ivan Pierra or in conjunction with injured
defender Chris Albright, according to the report.
Beckham injured the ankle while playing for England in a Euro 2008
qualifying game against Estonia in
early June and was still suffering the effects when he helped Real Madrid win
the Spanish league championship on June 17.
He has not played a game since then but did start working out on his own
while on holiday in the south of France.
Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said that Beckham's flight to Los Angeles from
England on Thursday had not helped matters, and his ankle had swollen because of
the flight and possibly because Beckham had started running on it "maybe a
little bit too soon."
"With ankles, they do tend to clear up pretty quickly, if there' s no
structural damage, which there isn't," Yallop said. "It's just that swelling and
that soreness that he's got to get out of his system."
