David Beckham Shows Range of Talent With Incredible Free Kick, Yellow Card, Mascot Tussle (Video)

by Jen Slothower on Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 10:25AM

Make no mistake. David Beckham is a talented man.

And although the 37-year-old won’t get a chance to represent his country in this year’s Summer Olympics, he’s still making waves on the pitch — in more ways than one.

Beckham showed why he’s considered one of the best at taking free kicks on Saturday, drilling a truly “bend it like Beckham” shot over the San Jose Earthquakes’ defensive wall for an early score.

The Quakes would have the last laugh, though. Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy team squandered an early lead and fell 4-3 in what quickly became a testy match.

Beckham was in the thick of it. After San Jose’s Sam Cronin fell to the ground in pain, one of his teammates appeared to clear the ball down the field, keeping Beckham from tossing a ball in from the sideline and continuing play. Beckham appeared perturbed and, once again using his deft kicking touch, booted the ball he was holding at the offending player. He nearly nailed the guy, too — but missed just enough that the ball landed near Cronin and got the entire San Jose team upset.

Beckham earned a yellow card for the action, and a scuffle ensued. Although both teams eventually got back to playing, the bad blood wasn’t over — Beckham went at it with other Earthquakes players after the game ended, in the time usually reserved for the disrobing that accompanies the exchange of team jerseys.

The ever-so-happy Quakes mascot even got caught up in the mix.

Check out the videos below to see Beckham’s brilliant kick (that thing bends that way without ever getting near the crossbar), his well-placed kick that drew the yellow card, and the brouhaha that involved one very strange-looking mascot. Hat tip to SportsGrid.

Photo of the Day

Just another day on the practice course — er, at the Congressional. The AT&T National was closed to spectators on Saturday after heavy wind ripped apart trees and left the country club looking like an obstacle course.

Quote of the Day

“The decision came down to whether KG wanted to keep playing. And once he decided that he did, it was going to be Boston.”
– a source telling the Boston Herald that Kevin Garnett is returning to the Celtics for up to three more years