Running out of FC Tokyo’s tunnel into torrential rain and a rapidly dropping temperature, David Beckham might have momentarily believed he was back in Manchester on Tuesday night.
He certainly played as if he was on his old stamping ground, scoring with a free-kick bent into the far corner (his first for Real Madrid) collected his first booking and then admitted to feeling mildly fortunate not to have been sent off as the Spanish champions prevailed 3-0.
More importantly — on a night when the match ball was theatrically dropped on to the pitch from a helicopter — Beckham, looking less of a new boy by the minute, showed what a varied and accurate passing range he possesses.
Tellingly, most of his deliveries were unleashed from the central midfield berth he has long hankered after playing in — the England captain having swapped the position in the middle occupied by Luis Figo (who had started for the injured Zinedine Zidane) during the first half.
Thereafter, the only problem was that some of Beckham’s colleagues did not seem to completely trust his vision or precision. Once they cotton on, much of the thinly disguised cynicism about his recruitment among elements of the squad should start evaporating.
The process will be accelerated if he can somehow be regularly accommodated in that central role. Sir Bobby Robson, for one, has long maintained Beckham’s optimum position is in the thick of things and on Tuesday night’s evidence, his argument appeared vindicated.
The principal difficulty Carlos Queiroz faces in incorporating Beckham in the middle is logistical. It is hard to see him displacing Zidane or Claude Makelele, the strongman responsible for protecting an often vulnerable defence. The solution may be for Real’s coach, a confirmed 4-4-2 man, to experiment with wing-backs.
Beckham, as his ninth-minute booking testified, is no Makelele. Tackling has never been his forte and he was instantly shown a yellow card for an impetuous challenge on Yuti Baba, and at a time when he looked to be Real’s last man.
Many spectators had paid the equivalent of well over £100 for the privilege of watching Real’s new number 23 and would not have appreciated a more pedantic referee. And having limbered up with a 22m free-kick that was competently saved, Beckham came good in the 37th minute.
He took the next from the left-hand edge of the 16m box and curled it, right-footed, just inside the far post — although at that height the goalkeeper might have hoped to stop it.
Beckham was soon hugged by half-a-dozen teammates, whose reser-vations — about the manner in which the media and security circus surrounding his presence has curtailed their freedom — were at least temporarily forgotten.
A minute before the interval Real doubled their advantage, Santiago Solari scoring against a side who, despite being largely outclassed, still displayed sufficient promising touches to prevent things from becoming completely one-sided.
Indeed, early on, Beckham did not look entirely at ease when confronted by Masashi Miyazawa, the inventive left-sided midfielder.
Yet the hosts ultimately had no answer to the Ronaldo step-over as the Brazilian, on as a substitute, scored the third goal with an exhibition-style solo effort. Ronaldo could do with shedding a few pounds but once he does, Beckham will benefit from being offered one of the best moving targets around. Evidently eager to nurture an emotional as well as technical relationship, Beckham — on for the full 90 minutes — was first to sprint to the striker and embrace him as if they were old friends.
For all its drawbacks at least this tour is allowing Beckham, language difficulties aside, to familiarise himself with his teammates’ quirks.
Unfortunately, while Figo and company were able to drink coffee and relax in the lounge of the Four Seasons Hotel this week, the presence of hundreds of screaming fans at the lobby door meant the main attraction was once again upstairs in his room, from where he admits he has been phoning his wife at least 20 times a day. Tuesday’s post-match telephone call must have been one of the hap-piest since England’s captain landed in the Far East two weeks ago.
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