It might take another run to the MLS Cup if the Los Angeles Galaxy want to see David Beckham back on the field in 2010.
Beckham told The View's Barbara Walters on Monday that he won’t be fit again to play until November, likely damning any hopes he’ll return by the regular-season finale and jeopardizing his chances for a postseason comeback.
The English midfielder -- who suffered a torn Achilles tendon while on loan with AC Milan in March -- also admitted that he won’t resume training for at least three months.
Carrying crutches and saddled with a boot cast on perhaps the world’s most closely watched left foot, Beckham made several media appearances in New York on Monday. He let the news slip of his November return to Walters during a backstage conversation before a taping of the ABC talk show The View.
"I won't be running for another three months, so I will be playing again in, probably, November,'' Beckham said in a video posted Monday on ABC’s website.
The last time Beckham appeared in a Galaxy uniform was last November, when he teamed with Landon Donovan to pilot the Galaxy to the MLS Cup. He left empty-handed, however, as Real Salt Lake won the league title in a shootout and postponed Beckham’s shot at a first MLS title until 2010.
Then came the Achilles injury that both crippled Beckham’s shot at a World Cup appearance for England this summer and extinguished hopes that he could shine again this season in MLS. During an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday, he likened the injury to “being hit by a hockey puck,” and admitted he knew the severity of the injury as soon it as it had occurred.
The former Manchester United star also told MLSsoccer.com on Monday that he’s trying to regain mobility in the ankle after the injury.
"At the moment, it's just getting the motion back into the ankle, the tendon, because it's still repairing,'' Beckham said. "I'm trying to get mobilization back into the ankle.''
Also on GMA, Beckham expressed his disappointment with missing the opportunity to play for England at the World Cup in South Africa.
"It's frustrating," he added. "It's obviously disappointing because I've been working for the last two years to get into the English squad [for the World Cup]."
Beckham also praised the play of his Galaxy teammates, who have surged to a league-best 4-0-1 start to the season in his absence.
“We’ve got stability,” Beckham told MLSsoccer.com. “It’s great to have stability. We’ve also brought in a few new players. The three Brazilians look impressive. But most important, we have team spirit. That’s why we went so far last year. Now we want to improve. We’ve done well, but we need to continue it.”
