David Beckham reportedly was recuperating Monday after surgery in Finland to repair a torn Achilles tendon. We wish him well, since no other player has done so much to stimulate interest in the game in the USA. The Los Angeles Galaxy’s celebrated midfielder was on loan to an Italian team, AC Milan, playing in a game against Chievo Verona, when he stepped back awkwardly while taking a pass with his left foot. “He started hopping on his right foot with an expression of pain on his face,” according to a news report. “He reached a hand down to his left heel, then stood up and gestured as if he was breaking a twig in half to show the AC Milan bench he knew the tendon was broken.”
Considering how much strain the Achilles tendon absorbs, it can be amazingly fragile. My wife ruptured her Achilles tendon the same way Beckham did. She took an awkward step backward while playing ping-pong at a birthday party, and felt something go pop. I’d met her that same night and couldn’t understand why, after giving me her phone number, she didn’t return any of my messages for more than a week. I didn’t know it then, but she was in the hospital recuperating from surgery. She described the injury as the most painful thing she’d ever experienced. The tendon eventually mended completely, but it took a long time for her to get comfortable doing things that put strain on it, particularly skiing.
The 34-year-old Beckham, is undoubtedly in the care of one of the best surgeons in the world, and so a Galaxy spokesman’s claim that he will return to top form seems credible. But it will still take time – at least three months — before he can put even mild strain on his foot, and it will probably be at least six months before he could return to action. This means he will be our for most of the Major League Soccer season, scheduled to begin on March 25, and that he won’t be playing in the World Cup in June. Beckham is the league’s highest-paid player, with a $32.5 million, five-year contract, and the biggest draw in the game.
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Beckham is a handsome man, whose crosses, when unmarked, and free kicks are extraordinarily masterful. Here is famous footballer George Best’s verdict. ” He can’t use his left foot.He can’t head the ball. He doesn’t play defense, and he doesn’t score many goals. Apart from that, he’s alright.” Watching him play since 2006, including England’s dismal World Cup performance, I agree. He’s a place kicking specialist in a sport which doesn’t allow single-purpose substitutions and withdrawals.