CARSON, Calif. – David Beckham may not have been on the winning side in Sunday’s Western Conference Championship match, but he once again won over his teammates and coaches.
Having already overcome an Achilles injury that was originally feared to be a season-ending setback, Beckham was thrown another obstacle on Sunday as an adductor injury early on made things difficult for him against FC Dallas.
Still, Beckham overcame the issue and fought and scrapped for the Galaxy in their 3-0 loss to FC Dallas.
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“First two minutes, I just pulled my adductor,” Beckham said. “It wore off a little, but obviously had nothing to do with our loss.”
Beckham troubles FCD with free kick
As Beckham struggled a bit to finish the first half, Galaxy coach Bruce Arena nearly substituted his star midfielder at the break.
“We saw in the very beginning of the game probably 15 minutes in, he had a problem. He hung in there and we talked to him at halftime,” said Arena. “[But] he stayed in. If we have all of our players with his kind of character and commitment, we would continue to do well.”
Not having Beckham at full speed on Sunday was nothing new for the Galaxy this season.
“He hasn’t been at full strength since he’s been back,” Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said. “When you come back that quickly at that age from an Achilles injury, there are going to be residual effects. My hat’s off to him – he played through a lot of pain those last few weeks, more than you guys know, but he’s a competitor and he wants to keep going.”
While he dealt with yet another injury, Beckham said he wanted only to make sure he gave everything he had in the match.
“As long as I’ve given 110 percent like I do every game, I’ll look at myself in the mirror and know that I’ve done that,” he said. “It’s just disappointing we’ve gone out the way we’ve gone out.”
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