Area 77

Fabio Capello has admitted he was wrong to let David Beckham leave Real Madrid, according to former New York Cosmos star Giorgio Chinaglia.

Beckham turned down the offer of a new Real Madrid deal in January, deciding instead to sign a lucrative contract with Los Angeles Galaxy.

Capello accepted Beckham’s choice but told him at the time he would not play for Real during his last few months with the club.

Beckham has since produced a string of impressive performances and Chinaglia claims Capello now regrets his decision.

Former Italy striker Chinaglia, who is the North American Soccer League’s record scorer, told talkSPORT: “You cannot forget what Beckham has done for Real Madrid this year. He’s been brilliant, unbelievable.

“I phone Fabio Capello, I speak to him about once a week. He said ‘Giorgio, you can’t believe this kid; the turnaround around he’s done. We made a big mistake with this player’.

“I said ‘you all sure did. It’s a shame you’re going to lose a player like that to the United States and not see him again in Europe’.”

Beckham’s good form has seen him rewarded with a recall to the England squad and Chinaglia feels his move to America was perhaps a year or two premature.

“I think it’s too soon for him. This season he’s played brilliantly for Real Madrid, especially after Christmas,” he said.

“I think Real Madrid are going to win La Liga, he’s been recalled for England and, on top of that, the Galaxy team are not a good side. I think it’s a shame.”

Chinaglia also believes Beckham could suffer physically in Major League Soccer.

He explained: “The pace is slow. Technically they are not good so he’s going to have a hard time.

“But if you play against somebody who doesn’t know, he’s going to hurt you because he doesn’t know how to play soccer.

“Unfortunately, that’s the bottom line here.”

– Sky Sports

I just can’t get over this issue. I have no words..

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.