David Beckham had a very nice free kick goal against Barcelona at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Saturday, and I wonder if that one play might be enough to get him to the 2010 World Cup.
Could be.
Very few players can do what Beckham did with that ball, driving it from about 25 yards out, outside the circle at the top of the box, and over a half-dozen-man wall ... but with enough overspin that the ball seemed to dive -- while swerving left -- and past Barcelona goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto and into the siding of the net.
That sort of deadball threat
-- and execution -- against a team as good as Barcelona certainly will be seen by England coach Fabio Capello and likely will bring Beckham in for the next two England matches in World Cup qualifying ... and maybe into the team for South Africa 2010. (England is close to clinching first place in its group.) I mean, even if the guy can't do much of anything else (defend, score in the run of play, etc.), that sort of active dead-ball threat is huge.
Organizers must hope Becks shows up in South Africa. Considering his name-recognition, etc. (Even if England in any competition means a fair chance of their loutish fans showing up and wrecking a town or three.)
Anyway, yeah. Socoring that goal, against Barcelona, with 93,000 fans watching ... that's the kind of pressure execution that might get a guy a berth in the World Cup. And that was the first thought that popped into my head as the ball settled into the back of the next.
Barcelona ultimately won the club friendly over Beckham and his temporary club team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, 2-1.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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