MVN - Most Valuable Network

Beckham is Money — It’s an Education !

As an ardent fan of The Beautiful Game,  I am very excited to see what the so-called “Beckham-effect” is now having on soccer newbies and non-fans… 

These groups, as well as those who are still resisting the chance to ‘get into the game’ are now at least seeing and beginning to understand why David Beckham gets a guaranteed salary of $6.5 million per year with the Galaxy, and why (according to new Forbes figures) he added endorsements to his clubs’ wages, which in total landed him nearly $ 50 million, making him 2007’s highest-earning player… in the entire world.

I noticed quite a few bloggers - who don’t usually write about soccer - picking up on this powerful long-distance goal he made against the Wizards on the weekend.  While I was happy to see them getting involved and interested enough to pass the information along to their readers, many of them got the facts wrong about the circumstances surrounding the goal.

Some misunderstood what was happening there in stoppage time - the 94th minute - when Beckham scored to give Galaxy the 3-1 win.  So, I’ll set the record straight here…

I want to emphasize - first of all - to those of you who think a goal like this is easy from this distance, or somehow common, that it is actually quite unusual and quite skilled.  If you are an NFL fan, you should know that the longest successful field goal kicks of all time are less than the distance of this Beckham goal, and that further degree of difficult is added by the fact that from such a distance, one must aim low - something not at all useful for an NFL field goal.  Kicking low and accurately - which running - at such a distance takes exceptional concentration and power in the kick.  What Beckham did there is very special, and shows why he is so respected as a player - and has been for over 15 years.

The goal description itself (from the MLS Sierra Mist Goal of the Week site) states it succinctly…

With K.C.’s Kevin Hartman out of his goal after an ill-executed corner kick, Becks spotted his target from way before midfield and fired a brilliant shot that sealed the deal for Los Angeles.

I just wanted to point that out to those who write that they didn’t know the reason that the goal was empty.  It wasn’t because the opposing team was caught off-guard, as many non-soccer bloggers wrote, or because the Wizards were being dumb-asses for not having a ‘keeper there standing by.

It’s a circumstance of the game, and as Beckham and soccer begin to get more respect in this country from those who are uninitiated, I hope that highlights like there will continue to catch curious eyes and inform curious minds…

Beckham’s Goal, WATCH HERE

Photo Gallery from the match, including pics from this goal’s celebration,

VIEW HERE

Also, here are the full match highlights from MLSnet.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 11:15 am and is filed under Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.