Beckham bit concerned by his swollen ankle

Los Angeles, July 15: The only cloud on David Beckham's horizon as he spends this weekend relaxing with his family in their new Beverly Hills home is his swollen left ankle.

He twisted the ankle while playing for England against Estonia in a Euro 2008 qualifying match last month and aggravated it in his final appearance for Real Madrid 11 days later.

Since then, Beckham has been mainly on holiday with his wife and three sons and is scheduled to report for his first day of training as a Los Angeles Galaxy player tomorrow.

''My ankle is still slightly swollen,'' the 32-year-old told reporters after being formally introduced as a Galaxy player at the Major League Soccer (MLS) side's home stadium in Carson, California.

''I ran on it for the first time about four days ago in London.

It felt slightly unstable so there's still a bit of work to do.

''I'll be getting that done over the next couple of days though massage and treatment and hopefully a bit of running. It should be all right for the game against Chelsea.'' Beckham, the biggest name to move to the US since soccer greats Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff in the 1970s and early eighties, hopes to make his debut in a Galaxy shirt in an exhibition match with FA Cup holders Chelsea on July 21.

Galaxy club president and general manager Alexi Lalas has never doubted the fitness of his high-profile signing.

''We were very fortunate that David had this time apportioned out so that he was going to get the rest because his injury was something that just required time,'' Lalas told Reuters.

AT RISK

''He had that time but this is a long-term project and we are not going to put him in any situation that puts him at risk and therefore doesn't help the team.

''However, David Beckham takes care of his body and understands his body. He is much more rugged than people give him credit for and I have no problems seeing him playing, and playing well, well until his mid- and possibly late-thirties.'' Beckham, signed by the Galaxy from Spanish giants Real Madrid on a five-year deal worth 32.5 million dollar, agreed.

''I might be 32 years old, but I'm as fit as I was when I was 22 and I'm as eager as I was when I was 14,'' he said with a smile.

''So I'm ready for it.'' With his holiday not officially over until Monday, the golden boy of English and European soccer plans to spend as much time as possible with his family in their 22million dollar, six-bedroom Beverly Hills mansion.

''I try to live my life as normally as possible and I especially try to make my children's life as normal as possible,'' said Beckham, who arrived in Los Angeles with his pop star wife Victoria and their three sons on Thursday.

''We've had three-and-a-half weeks' holiday and we just wanted to get here, get settled in LA, get into the house and try to relax.

''It's a great house, very private, and the kids are very happy there,'' he added, referring to his sons Brooklyn, eight-years-old, Romeo, four, and Cruz, two.

Reuters

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