15 Jan 2007(Mon)

Tokyo, January 12, 2007: A few weeks ago I wrote that David Beckham might be on the move, and urged J.League clubs to make a serious attempt to sign him.

Well, Beckham is leaving Real Madrid all right, but nowhere did I read that an option for him was Japan. Oh well, never mind, it was worth a thought!

He is, of course, going to Los Angeles, swapping the Galacticos for the Galaxy and being paid a vast amount of money to help spread the gospel of association football in a country which is reluctant to embrace it.

Not surprisingly there has been bitter criticism of Beckham on the football websites I have read, saying he has “sold out” by going to the US and that his wife, Posh Spice, has made the decision to pursue her career in Hollywood. This type of comment was to be expected, as Beckham was Public Enemy No. 1 after his red card against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup and was still being lambasted by large sections of the British media in Germany last summer. I attended four of the five England games and was always surrounded by media men who wanted him to fail; they wanted his passes to go astray; they wanted his free kicks to fly wide; they wanted him to be substituted.

Yes, this is the mentality of the British media…build them up and then knock them down. In Japan you protect your national treasures, such as Nakata and Nakamura, Ichiro, Matsui and now D-Mat, but in England we just love to knock ‘em down to size and put them in their place. Sad, but true.

Personally, I think it is a great move by Beckham. He is taking on a massive challenge to popularize the sport in the US, and could have received big money elsewhere. It is not as though he needs it, right?

He is a decent man, and he loves football and plays with pride and passion. I read amidst all the recent hysteria that many Real Madrid fans actually wanted him to captain the team last year because of these qualities.

At 31 he still has a lot to offer the Galaxy and MLS in general, and, in my opinion, the cynics are wrong on this front. Why go to Italy and be bored in Serie A with Milan? Why go back to England and have the press on your back every day and just waiting to pounce on any mistake, on or off the field?

Beckham has done enough for his country, and is now doing more for the US and for football at large. Yes, the game has been good to him, but he has put a lot in and deserved it.

Good luck, Beckham. The US needs you!

ends