SOMALINET NEWS ...Archives
SOCCER: CHELSEA BEATS GALAXY 1- 0 July 23, 2007
(SomaliNet) Chelsea spoiled Beckham’s big day by beating the Galaxy 1-0 in the friendly — with Terry scoring left-footed from the edge of the box.
although Becks played just 15 minutes — and was clearly still suffering pain in his ankle — Terry is confident he will be fit for his country.
Blues new-boy Steve Sidwell was determined to make his Chelsea mark — and almost made it on Beckham in the process.
The midfielder admitted his heart was in his mouth when Becks writhed on the turf after a 50-50 tackle.
But Beckham, 32, was fine and Sidwell made no apology for the challenge. He said: “I knew it was him but it was just like any other tackle. I went in fully committed. We got up and had a little laugh and a joke afterwards.
“We’ve come out here to win the game, which we have done.”
The win made it three victories from three on tour for Chelsea but did not dampen the reception Becks received.
A sell-out 27,000 crowd were at the Home Depot Center Stadium to see Beckham play in central midfield.
And Terry does not see that as a problem for England, where he plays on the right.
Terry added: “He is very experienced and can shift from one position to another.
“I think it will be quite good for Steve McClaren to see him play in a different position.
“If someone gets injured then he may have to move to a different position for England.
“Steve McClaren knows players can play in different roles.”-
Chelsea captain Terry, who will lead England against Israel and Russia in September, said: “I think he will play in the qualifiers — I certainly hope so.
“On behalf of the whole squad I think I can say that his performances in the last two England matches make him one of the first names in the squad.
“It was great for Becks to finally play for his new club.
“The whole world was watching and waiting for him to make his first appearance.
“But as far as Becks is concerned the most important thing was to get a run-out.
“He’s at a pretty similar stage in his fitness to us as we are in pre-season — though a bit behind his new team-mates.
“In a few more weeks he’ll be right up there though.
“We hope he is fit for England because we need him.”-The Sun