THE lionising of David Beckham after his display against Barcelona must have surprised old Golden Boules himself.
No, the former England skipper didn’t let himself down.But he never actually hurt Barcelona. And it wasn’t until he was substituted in the 70th minute that PSG went on to score their two goals.
L’Equipe went to the other extreme, awarding him a miserly player rating of three out of 10.
Back home the plaudits increased with suggestions Beckham could still have a role with England.
Surely, we’re not that desperate we have to contemplate selecting someone who will be 38 next month and last played for England in 2009?
But we ARE desperate in another way.
There are so few ‘feelgood’ sports stories around at the moment, Beckham’s unlikely re-emergence in the Champions League has been greedily pounced on.
And yet it all seemed to be going so well last year. Chelsea, the Olympics, Ryder Cup, etc. Now, though, things have returned to normal.
Stuart Lancaster’s rugby team has gone from one that gave the All Blacks a record pasting at Twickenham last December to one that suffered their biggest defeat by Wales.
Our cricketers required a miracle to avoid only their second series defeat in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, our brave footballers continue to make life extremely difficult for themselves in qualifying for Brazil 2014.
Not that they haven’t won any of them. They actually managed to beat San Marino (joint bottom of the world rankings at 207) not once but TWICE... and also hammered Moldova (131st).
But draws against Ukraine (48th), Poland (61st) and Montenegro (28th) have left them precariously placed.
The gloom is completed by the failure of any home teams to reach the last eight of the Champions League.
There were, though, several former Premier League players in Champions League action this week.
Those who had turned their backs on England included Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Cesc Fabregas, Arjen Robben, Jerome Boateng and Juve’s young Paul Pogba.
There were also Michael Essien and Didier Drogba.
All but the last two went voluntarily and on to what has proved, in most cases, to be greater things. And a higher standard of football. Like the ‘brain drain’ of scientists from post-war Europe to America, we now have the football equivalent.
Except none of them are English.
If only a few of them were. If only some of our footballers would move abroad and improve themselves — both as players and individuals. Sure, they can earn as much money here. But that’s not the point.
If you want to get the most out of a short career, then surely you would want to experience football on the Continent?
You have to put it down to lack of ambition.
Instead, they stay in the comfort zone. And there will never be real improvement then. Which brings us back to Beckham. At least he gave it a whirl — Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan, PSG.
No one could ever accuse him of not making the most of his career.
I started this by having a pop at him. Now he gets a pat on the back.
Done in cold blood again.
JOCKEY Katie Walsh made a strong defence of the heavily criticised Grand National, Aintree and horse racing in general this week.
Among her observations and, bearing in mind the Cheltenham fall that left JT McNamara paralysed, she said: “I hope to God there are no accidents this year but these things happen.
“And they are horses after all. I don’t mean that in a cruel way but to see John Thomas McNamara get a horrible fall at Cheltenham . . . that’s a different deal altogether.”
What a terrible irony then that Katie’s mount Battlefront, trained by dad Ted and owned by mum Helen, should die of a heart attack in the fourth race at Aintree yesterday. Battlefront collapsed after being pulled up at the 11th on the same National course where so many safety measures have been introduced.
Katie, due to ride second-favourite Seabass in tomorrow’s National, had also said: “I don’t read the criticism, it’s not worth it.
“Anyone who gets up on Christmas Day and mucks out loves animals.
“It’s a dangerous sport but every night all over the world, horses are left out in fields starving.
“These top horses are well looked after, better than some children, to be honest with you.”
Of course, they are looked after. They generate multi-million sums for the business. Without them, there would be no sport.
It has to be said that yesterday’s accident could have happened anywhere, any time.
Aintree’s improvements are to be applauded.
The start has been moved 90 yards forward to prevent a mad Charge of the Light Brigade dash to the first fence, while timber frames have been replaced by plastic.
But you still get the feeling these have been forced on a reluctant sport by the high- profile casualties in the race itself of outstanding performers like last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Synchronised.
Certainly, there are owners and jockeys who view the RSPCA and PETA as ill-formed outsiders determined to destroy the credibility of the most famous race in the world. Yet even the critics understand its special, thrilling nature and have always wanted the horses to be better safeguarded by the sort of improvements that HAVE now been made.
This had to be done in light of the 36 deaths at Aintree in the last 12 years, including 23 on the National course.
Since last year’s race, another 128 horses have died or been destroyed on UK courses.
So there should be no criticism that those concerned with the well-being of these wonderful animals “don’t understand”.
They understand only too well.
DAVID MILIBAND resigned from his extremely arduous £125,000, 15-day-a-year job as Sunderland vice-chairman following Paolo Di Canio’s appointment as manager.
The former Foreign Secretary cited Di Canio’s “past political statements.” This blatant political gesture came soon after Miliband quit as South Shields MP for a £280,000-a-year charity post in New York.
Miliband is famed for his gaffes — the most notorious some unwise comments about the Mumbai bombings on a trip to India, where the country’s politicians called him “arrogant, aggressive and crass.”
As for the whole Di Canio saga, Sunderland have belatedly done what they should have done in the first place — got him to recant his beliefs.
Well, in public anyway.
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