David Beckham is close to turning 50 years old, but the former England international soccer player has not lost his qualities as a player, although he knows that the lack of activity and age are beginning to take their toll.
Despite everything, Beckham is still able to connect his famous free-kicks like few in the world, and this is well known by the players of Inter Miami, of which the former British player is a partner in the franchise.
Beckham’s worldwide fame never goes out of fashion, and he is constantly invited to play football matches in different parts of the world alongside other retired players, although the Englishman is now more likely to be seen in dress shoes than in boots with studded soles.
Messi and Inter Miami’s request to Beckham
Despite this, Beckham confessed that Inter Miami players, starting with their captain Lionel Messi, are always on top of him asking him to get on the pitch to join in training or the team’s fun moments after each practice.
“They’re always on top of me: Leo Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets. They turn around and say: ‘Come on, come on, join in!'” Beckham explained to Men’s Health magazine.
In the same way that his players ask him to join in with the team, Beckham usually refuses, at least most of the time, especially so as not to cause distractions in the training sessions of coach Javier Mascherano, although on one occasion he tried to kick some balls, which was later resented by his body.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I grew up in an era where I didn’t do much warming up or stretching. So it wasn’t unusual for me to take a few balls on the halfway line and send them into the goal or the crossbar,” Beckham explained
“I got to the fifth, sixth and seventh shot; on the eighth, I did it and I thought, ‘Oh, shit, my quadriceps!'” he said. “The guy who was filming asked me if I could do a couple more. I told him, ‘No, I think we’ve got it!'”
Inter Miami’s performance in the early MLS season and the Concachampions
The MLS season is just underway, and so far the Miami team is third in the Eastern Conference with a draw and a win in its first two games, while in the Concacaf Champions Cup they are in the round of 16 and won the first leg against Jamaican side Cavalier 2-0, in a match played at Chase Stadium, home of the Herons.
On Thursday, the second leg will take place, when the Herons pay a visit to the Jamaican team in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, where it is expected that Martino will make use of Messi, who did not participate in the first match because the strategist gave him a rest.
“Leo is fine. He will train normally like the rest of his teammates,” Mascherano said on Friday morning.
“Look, every situation and season is different and you have to put everything in context. We played in a knockout round last week. There was no way to rotate the squad. We started the season in Kansas and the Champions League is an important competition for us. Between those two games we had the start of the MLS season.
“That is also one of the competitions we aspire to win. So when we talk about being able to rotate and rest players, you have to look at the context. We had to play three games in seven days,” added Mascherano. “We didn’t have the necessary rest, because we were changed in the first matchday and we adapted to the circumstances.”
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