Yallop in Becks admission

Beckham plays 90 minutes for Galaxy

By Mark Buckingham   Last updated: 24th August 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Yallop in Becks admission

Beckham: Two games in two days

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Los Angeles Galaxy coach Frank Yallop admits David Beckham should not have played 90 minutes for the second time in two days.

After playing in England's friendly defeat to Germany on Wednesday, Beckham returned to the United States for Galaxy's MLS fixture with Chivas USA on Thursday.

The midfielder again lasted the entire match, but was unable to prevent Galaxy from slipping to a 3-0 defeat.

With Beckham still battling for full fitness after an ankle injury, Yallop was reluctant to risk the former Manchester United man against Chivas.

However, the Galaxy coach revealed it was the player's decision to declare himself fit for the game.

Hobbled

"It wasn't the intention to play him at all, but he came in and said that he felt okay," Yallop told reporters. "And obviously with our situation in the league we need points.

"I didn't want to leave him on, but in the end, at 2-0, he tried and all it needed was maybe one set-piece or one bit of magic by David.

"Right at the end he looked hobbled. I used him tonight and I shouldn't have done that.

"I don't like to put players like David in jeopardy of getting injured, and that wasn't the intention.

"We wanted to make sure his ankle was okay and he said he was okay to start.

"You can still tell now that he is sore, he's still not 100 percent."