Beckham’s busy schedule could rebound on him

LONDON (AP)—David Beckham’s decision to play for two clubs in hopes of going to the 2010 World Cup could be too big a gamble.

He is embarking on an almost nonstop schedule on two continents while trying to satisfy the demands of three coaches and two sets of management in addition to sponsors, promoters and family. Dreaming of a fourth consecutive World Cup, he could wind up flat on his face from exhaustion.

Beckham, AC Milan and the Los Angeles Galaxy announced Sunday they had struck a deal in which the former England captain will remain with the Serie A club until the season ends, then return to his Major League Soccer team in July.

That means that Beckham, who has been on loan to Milan, will play for three teams over the next nine months despite passing his 35th birthday.

All this runs alongside his commercial activities, ambassadorial position with MLS and promotional work for England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Not to be forgotten are matters closer to home—husband to Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham and father of their three sons.

Mission Impossible? Maybe he’ll call on his Los Angeles neighbor and good friend Tom Cruise for advice.

“People have talked about the amount of games that I will be playing and the amount of hours I will be playing football but it’s never bothered me, that side of the game,” he said. “I have always loved playing as many games as possible.”

But Beckham’s lifestyle is far more than just soccer. The coaches of Milan, the Galaxy and England may well be alarmed at this hectic schedule.

If it were simply Milan or the Galaxy, he would get long breaks at the end of the season, wherever he is. Playing for both in overlapping seasons means only short periods of inactivity to rest aching muscles and repair injuries.

“I get a good four weeks rest in the summer and then I get another rest in December,” he said. “It sets me up right to then to go into January fully fit and fully ready and at my best.”

Although Beckham believes he can cram all this into his routines, it is a situation he tried to avoid. He wanted Milan to buy him outright from the Galaxy before the March 8 deadline set by the MLS team.

After two unsuccessful seasons with the Galaxy, who failed to reach the playoffs despite his arrival, Beckham moved on loan to Milan to improve his chances of making the England squad.

He figured correctly that playing alongside the likes of some of the world’s top players, including Ronaldinho, Kaka and Paolo Maldini, would catch the eye of England manager Fabio Capello—a former Milan coach—and improve his chances of playing for his country.

Once in Milan, Beckham liked the experience so much he decided to stay and negotiate a break from the Galaxy. But Milan got nowhere near the Galaxy’s price and the transfer never happened.

Contributing some of his own massive fortune, Beckham negotiated an extension to his loan deal and will stay in Serie A until June 30 before crossing the Atlantic again to play the second half of the MLS season.

Once that finishes in late November, Beckham is expected to return to Italy in January 2010 to resume playing for Milan although it is not clear whether that will be a full-time transfer or another loan.

All this will mean that Beckham could be the busiest soccer player on the planet. But he says it was the only way to make sure he can be in South Africa for the World Cup, assuming England makes it.

“I personally have to do everything I can do be involved in that,” he said. “Everyone knows how passionate I am about playing for my country and, if it gives me a better chance of being involved in that squad, I’ll do anything possible to make that happen.”

By the time that World Cup starts June 11, 2010, Beckham could be playing there for England as a 36-year-old Galaxy player, or Milan star or both, assuming he stays fit.

For any England player, there are a lot of twists and turns before that happens. Beckham has just created a few more.