Beckham limps out of Galaxy tie

David Beckham limped out of the first half of Los Angeles Galaxy's Superliga final clash with Mexican outfit Pachuca nursing what appeared to be a knee injury.

Beckham tripped over the ball when challenging Pachuca midfielder Fernando Salazar.

The England midfielder remained face down on the grass for a few seconds before gradually getting up and limping to the sidelines.

Beckham had been feeling the effects of a long-standing ankle injury again in recent days ahead of the Superliga match in Carson, California.

He also had to contend with playing 90 minutes on back-to-back days last week.

Beckham played for England in their 2-1 friendly defeat against Germany at Wembley on the Wednesday and then, after flying overnight, turned out for Galaxy against Chivas in Los Angles 24 hours later.

Beckham injured his ankle playing for Spanish giants Real Madrid in their title decider and the injury has hampered him since joining Galaxy on July 13.

Beckham suffered the injury in the 31st minute as both he and Salazar simultaneously made strong contact with the ball.

He looked to have jarred his right knee and rolled on the ground in obvious pain. He slowly stood up and motioned to the bench before limping off the field.

Galaxy physio Ivan Pierra helped the 32-year-old back to the Galaxy bench while coach Frank Yallop sent on Alan Gordon as a replacement.

The former England captain revealed that a desire to protect his ankle, which until recently had kept him out of action, had caused him to go into the tackle differently to when fully fit.

He said: ‘I went into the tackle a little light because of my ankle and tried to compensate for that.

‘I’d have been better off not doing it at all.’

If Beckham's worst fears are realised by tomorrow's scan he could also be a doubt for the qualifiers against Estonia at Wembley, on October 13, and Russia in Moscow four days later.

Yallop admitted he feared for his skipper as soon as he failed to get up following the challenge.

He said: ‘At first, I was worried for David because it looked like it was his knee - he usually gets up pretty quickly and he didn’t so I made the sub.  We'll know more tomorrow.

Galaxy have an MLS match against Real Salt Lake on Saturday and Beckham has already missed eight of Galaxy's 12 games since he joined the club on July 13.

Beckham watched from the sidelines as Chris Klein scored a last-minute equaliser for Galaxy to force the final into extra-time, with Pachuca eventually winning 4-3 on penalties to claim the SuperLiga trophy and one million US dollars.

He played 90 minutes for England in the friendly defeat against Germany at Wembley on August 22 and 90 minutes for Galaxy a day later but did not travel to Colorado for Sunday's league match.

Beckham had started the game looking as fit as he has at any time since joining Galaxy and creating several early chances.

Finding himself unmarked on the right flank in the seventh minute he swung a cross into the heart of the penalty area but Landon Donovan headed over.

Pachuca went ahead in the 28th minute when Peter Vagenas, attempting to clear a Christian Gimenez cross, sliced into his own net.

Klein's late leveller sent the match into extra-time but they lost the subsequent penalty shoot-out when Abel Xavier dragged his spot-kick wide.