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From Expat-Village.com Top Sport News Expat Village is edited and published by Iain Williams in Caracas, Venezuela. A story from The Associated Press MADRID, Spain: David Beckham's four-year stay at Real Madrid did the Spanish club's finances a lot of good. Too bad about the results on the field.
The 31-year-old midfielder, who signed a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday, will now get a chance to earn some honors in the United States — a move likely to suit the mega celebrity lifestyle of the player and his former Spice Girl wife. Madrid, a nine-time European champion, went through major upheavals during Beckham's stay, with the former England captain playing under six different coaches and three club presidents. In 2003, Florentino Perez made Beckham the centerpiece of his project to create the world's best and most marketable team. When Beckham indicated his desire to leave Manchester United, Perez moved swiftly. Perez insisted that Beckham's signing was for soccer reasons — he described him as one of England's best ever players — but the fans thought otherwise. They knew Perez couldn't miss out on the chance to sign a marketing colossus with a talent for self-promotion, a cultural icon who was popular with soccer fans and non-fans alike — men, women, children and different ethnic and racial groups. Beckham, whose contract included a clause in which half of his image rights would go to Madrid, was everything the president had hoped for. He earned the club millions. And Madrid's continuous rise in income finally led it to overtake Manchester United as world soccer's richest club. Beckham was the fourth of Madrid's major signings under Perez — following Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo — but was probably the least talented of the star quartet, who became known as the "Galacticos." Beckham is a master at free kicks, which gave him the chance to lend his name to the hit movie "Bend It Like Beckham." But his other skills were inferior to Real's other superstars. Beckham's first season began in promising style, with Madrid winning the preseason Spanish Supercup. It turned out to be his one and only chance to make a victory lap with the club. Before Beckham came to Madrid, the team had won three of the previous six Champions League titles and two Spanish league titles. Beckham scored in the third minute of his Spanish league debut against Real Betis and went on to score five times in his first 16 games, although Madrid finished fourth in the league and only reached the Champions League quarterfinals. His next seasons brought more of the same — huge disappointments on the field, coaching changes and new problems. Last season, Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League in the second round, was humiliated in a 6-1 loss to Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey semifinals and ended the season 12 points behind champion FC Barcelona. Perez left the club nearly a year ago and was briefly succeeded by Fernando Martin before Ramon Calderon took over the presidency. Calderon reappointed former Madrid coach Fabio Capello in a bid to revive the club's fortunes on the field. That decision marked the beginning of the end for Beckham. Seeing the midfielder as a squad member and not a central figure, Capello mostly relegated Beckham to the substitute's bench, adding to the humiliation he felt after having been dropped from the England team in August, shortly after the World Cup ended. Beckham stalled on the club's offer of a new two-year contract, slightly higher than his previous deal. The talks ended Thursday, with Beckham deciding to move to the LA team in August. Beckham couldn't bear the prospect of being a bit player. Despite his stature as a marketing icon, soccer was always his first love, as he regularly acknowledged. Beckham has never hidden the fact that he would be willing to finish his career in the United States. And with two soccer academies — one in his home city of London and the other near Los Angeles — the move to the Galaxy did not come as a huge surprise. Expat Village is edited and published by Iain Williams in Caracas, Venezuela. © Copyright 2003 by Expat-Village.com |
