Beckham: I'll be in Dallas after Royal Wedding

Luis Bueno

CARSON, Calif. – History will be in the making on Friday when Prince William and Kate Middleton wed at Westminster Abbey in London. Major League Soccer will have a presence there, too.

LA Galaxy star David Beckham and wife Victoria will be in attendance at the Royal Wedding, which has captivated England’s attention for months. The ceremony will commence at 6 am ET on Friday.

While Beckham will be part of history, he will not get to spend much time in his homeland.

“I’ll go to the wedding on Friday,” Beckham said. “I fly straight out of London on Saturday morning and I arrive [in Dallas] before the team on Saturday.”

The Galaxy will play FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park on Sunday, and if all goes according to plan, Beckham will be in Texas around 24 hours before kickoff. While league matches are important, Beckham said he has the support of Galaxy coach Bruce Arena and other club officials about the wedding and Beckham’s presence at the ceremony.

“Bruce understands and the club understands,” Beckham said. “It’s important. [Arena] knows that I’ll be sacrificing to travel to turn up in Dallas. Bruce said to me if I wanted to not go to the game [that's fine], but it’s important that I’m there. It’s important that the fans see me there, and I’ll do that.”

Teammates, meanwhile, said that while not ideal, the situation sets up well for someone like Beckham.

“The positive is that if anyone can do it, it’s him,” Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said. “He’s traveled the world and done this many times. He understands what it’s about and the only expectation for us is that he, like always, shows up and is ready to train and ready to play and as long as he does that, there’s no issue.”

As far as playing against FC Dallas after a hectic travelogue, Beckham said he will have to wait and see how his body reacts on Sunday.

“I’m used to the travel," he said. "It’ll be down to the manager. I’ll speak to the manager, just to see how I feel on the day of the game. I’ll do everything right and do what’s best for the team. If I don’t feel that I’ll be able to play in the game, that’s what matters, to do what’s going to help us win the game.”

Taking flights from Los Angeles to London and then from London to Dallas in a span of about four days might not be the best scenario, but some things are worth the sacrifice, he said.

“Obviously, it’s not ideal with the travel, but it’s a royal wedding,” Beckham said, “and those don’t come around very often.”