Though David Beckham's ankle has not improved significantly since Tuesday, the Galaxy star will be with the club for Sunday's match at Toronto.
Galaxy coach Frank Yallop announced that Beckham would travel with the squad for Sunday's game against Toronto FC. The match will be the Galaxy's first regular-season match with Beckham in tow, but his actual chances of stepping onto BMO Field appear slim.
"It'll be tough to put him in the lineup with what he's been doing," Yallop said, citing Beckham's lack of training with the club. "The chances are probably slim, I would think."
When pressed, Yallop said that Beckham would "probably not" play against Toronto.
Nevertheless, there was progress. Beckham ran on the treadmill Thursday and will have time to bond with his teammates during the club's 10-day road trip.
The jaunt will be the first Beckham has taken with the Galaxy outside of Los Angeles. Though Beckham sat on the bench during the Galaxy's SuperLiga match against Chivas at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, the trip from Carson to the Coliseum was all of 15 miles or so.
Now he'll make the trip to Canada as the Galaxy will play the expansion MLS side for the first time. The Galaxy will stay on the East Coast ahead of their Aug. 9 match at D.C. United and an Aug. 12 date at New England before returning home for a SuperLiga semifinal against United on Aug. 15.
Yallop held out some hope that Beckham would play on Sunday, though, but tempered his optimism somewhat.
"Hopefully he'll get a look at it on Saturday and see what he thinks, and hopefully he can strap the boots on and get out there and see what he's feeling like," Yallop said. "Again, it's so early and he's just started to do his running. For us to think he'll be ready for that one could be tough."
Beckham originally injured his ankle while playing for England in early June. He aggravated the injury in his final game with Real Madrid on June 17. Since joining the Galaxy on July 13, Beckham has been present at one training session -- an open practice on July 16 in which he did some light work on the side.
Beckham played the final 12 minutes in the Galaxy's 1-0 loss to Chelsea on July 21, but otherwise has not been near Galaxy training sessions. He was in uniform and sat on the bench against Chivas, but the move was to help acclimate him to the team and give him a feel of how the club plays from that level, Yallop said.
So while Beckham's playing status remains in doubt, his ability to play and be effective for a full 90 minutes remains further off.
"It's probably going to take maybe a couple of games for him to get to that level where he's normally at," Yallop said.
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
