By Xinhua
Los Angles : Former England captain David Beckham and his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates began training for the 2008 Major League Soccer (MLS) season Monday, hoping to erase the memories of an injury-filled and disappointing 2007 season.
Beckham made his debut with the Galaxy on July 21 last year, amid one of the greatest promotional build-ups in American sports history.
However, Beckham missed five of the next six games because of an ankle injury sustained June 6 while playing for England in a Euro 2008 qualifying game against Estonia.
His performance disappointed fans and raised questions about the team’s credibility regarding its statements on Beckham’s health.
Beckham then sustained a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee during the Aug 29 SuperLiga final against the Mexican team Pachuca and didn’t play till the Oct 18 MLS game against the New York Red Bulls.
By the time the MLS season ended, with Galaxy failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season, Beckham had missed twice as many games, 16, as he played. He played eight games in various competitions, scoring one goal and assisting on three others.
Since the end of the MLS season, Galaxy changed their coach with former Dutch international Ruud Gullit taking over the reins of the team from Frank Yallop.
The Galaxy will begin the 2008 season Feb 20 by facing Gamba Osaka of Japan’s J-League in the Pan-Pacific Championship in Honolulu. They will play their second tournament game Feb 23, then head to Seoul for a Mar 1 exhibition game against FC Seoul, and Shanghai for a Mar 5 exhibition game against the China All-Star Union team.