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Thursday, September 10, 2009
David Beckham has forgotten more about show business than the rest of football will ever know
I went to Wembley last night and saw England qualify for the World Cup Finals by beating a below-par Croatia team 5-1. With ten minutes to go Fabio Capello did what the commercial interests demanded and brought on David Beckham. Far as I could see he barely connected with the ball. At the end the team applauded what remained of the crowd, a third of whom seem to have left before the whistle. As they made their way off Beckham was the only one to take off his (presumably sweatless) shirt and give it to a girl in the crowd. That's the kind of thing that endears him to the sponsors. He's always thinking.
He made one sublime crossfield pass and a couple of smart slide-rulers down the flank, that's about it. I do suspect he'll be left out of the squad next summer, though.
ReplyDeleteStill think he's got a part to play - I can't believe Capello will leave him out given all the times he's brought Beckham on during his tenure.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, most people who know anything about football know that he's got a great ability to cross the ball and hit free-kicks and a remarkable work ethic, but he has severe limitations.
He'll be there. He sells shirts.
ReplyDeleteNot only does he sell shirts but FIFA know he's good business for them, being still as big a global football name as any in terms of expanding the reach of the sport.
ReplyDeleteAnd he's still pretty handy as a sub and an influence on the rest of the group around him. Even if he travels and plays 5 minutes in total there's a lot of value to him off the pitch in terms of soaking up the media pressure (his swansong of course) and taking it off the younger players.
He will be in the squad and it has nothing to do with selling shirts. Do you seriously think Capello cares about his shirt-selling capability?
ReplyDeleteJohn
He'll be in South Africa, all right. Especially if - as looks increasingly likely - Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo aren't.
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