Injured David Beckham Likely to Miss Game vs. Chelsea

An ankle sprain looks like it will keep David Beckham out of Saturday's game. (AP Images)

David Beckham's long-awaited Major League Soccer debut will likely be delayed a bit.

Beckham is scheduled to make his first appearance for the Los Angeles Galaxy in an exhibition Saturday night against Chelsea. But a nagging left ankle injury will probably prevent him playing, he said during halftime of the MLS All-Star Game outside Denver.

"I'm still having a lot of treatment. At the moment it doesn't look good that I'm going to play because the swelling is still there," Beckham said during an interview during a television telecast. "I'm here for five years. I'm not here just obviously for the game on Saturday.

"It's great that Chelsea is here. It's great to have great players, and a great team, great manager here. But I think it's more important for me personally that my ankle is right and I don't think it will be right for the game."

He left open a sliver of possibility that he'll make an appearance, however.

"Maybe I'll play some part toward the end of the game if it's all right, but we'll see," he said.

Galaxy general manger Alexi Lalas is holding out hope for a quick recovery, too.

"We still anticipate that he's going to play , to what extent we don't know," Lalas said. "We don't want to do anything that's going to jeopardize the long-term success and his health. He's been getting better every single day. But we're just going to have to wait until the day, and figure it out then."

Beckham originally hurt his ankle playing for England in a European Championship qualifier on June 6 and it flared up again June 17 in his final game with Real Madrid.

After Chelsea, the Galaxy's next three contests are SuperLiga games, including at home Tuesday night against Pachuca and on Saturday night against CD Guadalajara. The Galaxy then plays at FC Dallas on July 31 before resuming MLS play on Aug. 5 at Toronto FC.

"I want to get out there playing as soon as possible," Beckham said.

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