Charity Match

It was announced today that David Beckham will play in a charity match in Spain on November 19th. He will play alongside some of his former teammates from Real Madrid, including Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, and Roberto Carlos. This will be Beckham's first appearance in Spain since leading Real Madrid to the La Liga championship earlier this year.

The charity event is in its fifth year. All proceeds from the match go to support a variety of anti-poverty projects.

Beckham continues to promote himself to the world, especially to the Spanish people, even after leaving Real Madrid. Fans were reluctant to embrace the Englishman when he originally showed up from Manchester United in 2003, but he managed to win them over with his strong play, dedication, and his easy going "nice-guy" personality.

Beckham's Report Card

Now that Beckham's first MLS season is over, sports writers and other experts can fully judge his performance and impact. Martin Rogers, and experienced English sports writer now based in Los Angeles, has done just that. He recently wrote a report card for Beckham's first MLS season.

As expected, Beckham received high marks in the financial and image categories. Since his arrival, MLS games are now being broadcast internationally and the Galaxy have regularly drawn sell-out crowds. Other big names like Thierry Henry are also now contemplating moves to Major League Soccer.

The largest criticism were pointed at Beckham's fitness level and responsibility. Martin talks of David's poor decision to play back-to-back matches for LA and England that were only one day and thousands of miles apart while he was still trying to overcome an ankle injury. This poor decision most likely was a large factor in the injury to Beckham's knee that kept him sidelined during the Galaxy's playoff run.

Overall, Beckham received a grade of B-. This isn't terrible, considering he played an entire season with Real Madrid before joining the Galaxy. With actual time to rest and recover this off season, Beckham should be able to log much more playing time next season and get LA back into the playoffs.

Galaxy misses playoffs

Even the return of David Beckham was not enough to get Los Angeles into the MLS playoffs as the Galaxy lost their final regular season match against the Chicago Fire on Sunday. The loss knocked LA from the playoff race and gave Chicago the final post season spot.

Missing the playoffs is a huge blow to the Galaxy organization, especially since the club had one five straight matches leading up to Beckham's return to setup the playoff run. One has to imagine that this could be a result of poor chemistry, since Beckham had missed so much time with the club due to injury.

For now, the Galaxy will have plenty of time to rest up and get all of its members 100% healthy. The teams next match will in Australia next month.

The Return of David Beckham

David Beckham returned to action with the Los Angeles Galaxy yesterday in the teams 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls. This was Beckham's first game time since injuring his knee on August 29th.

Los Angeles managed to stay in playoff contention - barely - with yesterdays result. With one regular season game remaining, the Galaxy still need a lot of help to reach the playoffs. They first need to win their final match against Chicago this coming Sunday. They also need help from some other MLS teams. Along with winning their own match they also need Real Salt Lake to win or tie against Colorado and also for Kansas City to lose against FC Dallas. Simply put, the Galaxy need a small miracle to reach the playoffs.

Another interesting fact from the match was that Cobi Jones played his last home match for the Galaxy. Jones plans to retire at the end of this season. He has played all 12 of his professional years with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Jones was also a regular member of the United States national team. A video tribute was shown before the match and the team officially retired Jones' number.

Beckham close to return

According to reports by the Associated Press, David Beckham is close to making his return to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham has practiced with the Galaxy four times within the past two weeks, but his return to duty is still questionable. Teammate Landon Donovan has even remarked that Beckham "looks great."

Beckham's possible return couldn't come at a more important time. With only two games remaining in regular season play, Los Angeles is in a playoff push, having won its last five matches. Los Angeles is currently four points behind Chicago and Kansas City, who are tied for the last available playoff berth.

Los Angeles stands to gain a lot of attention, Beckham or otherwise, if it reaches the playoffs. Having Beckham as an active participant will further increase the marketability of the MLS playoffs if Los Angeles does manage to make the playoffs. The Galaxy has a tough home game scheduled for tomorrow against New York before closing out the season in Chicago.

Bend It Like Beckham

The film Bend It Like Beckham was released in 2002 and has proved to be a very successful film. It has been released all over the world in a number of different languages and has been a financial success. The film also helped launch the careers of Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Parminder Nagra (E.R.).

Oddly enough, even though the film is named after David Beckham, Beckham never actually appears in the film. Beckham in shown in a video clip early in the movie, but does not act in the film. This did not detract from the film's success, though. The name David Beckham alone seems to turn everything affiliated with it into solid gold.

My personal recommendation is to stay far away from this movie if you're looking for a good soccer movie. The soccer scenes in the movie are not very interesting. This is more of a "chick flick" than a sports movie. If you're looking for a good soccer movie, I suggest Victory, starring Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, and Pele.

The Dual Book Release

After his father released an unauthorized biography, David Beckham decided to write his own autobiography to tell his story his own way. The book enjoyed a release in two separate forms - one for the United States and another for the rest of the world. These two books are David Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground and David Beckham: My Side.

My Side was the international version of the book and was published first, with Both Feet on the Ground being published later for an American audience. Both books contain the same material, but the American release was reworded - most notably, all references to football were changed to soccer.

The dual release of the book was a key to marketing David to an American audience. In the book, he talked about the opening of his Los Angeles soccer academy and that he hoped to someday play in the United States. This American book release, along with the film Bend It Like Beckham, helped David get his foot in the American door.

David Beckham: My Son

David Beckham: My Son was written by Beckham's father Ted and was published in 2005. The book contained over 300 exclusive, never seen before photos from Davids life. The book tells the story of David, from his first exposures to soccer to his move to Real Madrid. The book sold well, but caused turmoil in the Beckham family.

In actuality, the book was an unauthorized biography. David was infuriated that his father had produced the book against his wishes and exposed so much of his personal life to the masses. Ted and David had a much publicized falling out over the book and did not speak for over a year. The two have since reconciled, and David rushed to London to be by his fathers side after a heart attack. David has also stated that he wishes to move his father to Los Angeles so the two can become closer.

Examples like this show that even within a family, disputes can arise over business affairs. Issues of money and exposure can weaken or destroy any organization if proper precautions and considerations are made. Business can be very cut-throat at times, and organizations need to examine their actions before hand to avoid blow ups and fall outs.