David Beckham will not be in Columbus on Wednesday night for the LA Galaxy's league match against the Crew (7:30 pm ET, NBCSN, Live Chat on MLSsoccer.com).
The club reported the absence via its LA Galaxy Insider blog, which features the following quote from LA manager Bruce Arena: "He's been away for an extended period of time and he needs to get settled back in and get his legs back."
The 37-year-old Beckham (above left, with Prince William) has enjoyed a hectic travel schedule of late. He arrived on gameday of the AT&T MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 25, and then jetted off to London for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics.
“I tell you what, he’s a pretty impressive guy,” All-Star coach Ben Olsen said at the time. “I don’t know how much you know about his schedule. I won't tell you about it, but it was as lot and he came out here. And he’s such a competitor. He wants to be in every game."
He missed the July 28 match against FC Dallas in order to play a role in the lighting of the torch during the opening ceremonies, navigating a speedboat down the River Thames.
After returning for the Aug. 5 match against Seattle — the Galaxy lost 4-0 at CenturyLink Field — he departed to London again for Sunday's closing ceremonies, where his wife performed with her former band, the Spice Girls. He also attended the men's gold medal basketball game on Sunday (at right, with actor Jeremy Piven).
The closing ceremonies came on the same day as the SuperClasico, but the LA Galaxy easily took care of business, handing Chivas USA a 4-0 defeat.
The defending champions currently sit in the fifth and final playoff spot in the West, 10 points ahead of sixth-place FC Dallas.
