For six years, Stuart Pearce lived with the ignominy of missing a penalty kick that led to England’s exit from the 1990 World Cup. And then, when the opportunity arose again, during the European Championships, Pearce demanded he be given another chance.
This time, with seemingly an entire nation swallowing hard, Pearce delivered memorably, rocketing his spot kick into the corner and letting loose with a fiery, wide-eyed, fist-pumping celebration that reinforced why everyone called him “Psycho” and gave a cathartic shaking to Wembley Stadium as England won its only penalty shootout in a major competition.
That kick might have been the bravest act Pearce had ever committed – until Thursday.
That’s when Pearce, who is coaching host Great Britain in the summer Olympics, left David Beckham off the team.
Pearce may as well have taken out Queen Elizabeth with a studs-up tackle.
“Stuart can kiss goodbye to a knighthood,” Tottenham coach Harry Rednapp told The Sun.
Beckham, 37, is well past his prime, having left Spain – and soccer relevancy – for Major League Soccer five years ago. But he is still among England’s most popular athletes, certainly its most marketable and no doubt the most willing to drape himself in a Union Jack.
And with the Olympics being the great intersection of sport, politics and commerce, who better to serve as its poster boy than Beckham, who not only stumped for London’s bid but is capable, even in the soccer-agnostic United States, of selling both burgers and cologne?
All that said – and judging from initial reports there figures to be much more said in England in the coming days – Pearce made the right decision, if the criteria is winning.
Beckham can still play the game, but it is mostly from the neck up, and those skills are not enough to justify one of the three spots reserved on each team for players who exceed the under-23 age limit in the Olympic soccer tournament. Pearce instead took versatile Ryan Giggs, a former teammate of Beckham’s at Manchester United, who at age 38 is still productive enough to get regular runs for one of the world’s best clubs, along with Liverpool winger Craig Bellamy and Manchester City defender Micah Richards.
For those arguing that Beckham deserved a spot on the 18-player roster as some sort of career achievement award, here’s the problem with that:
Pearce would have to play him.
Beckham is not good enough to chase kids around for 90 minutes, something he seems inspired to do in MLS only on occasion. And though he might be useful to deliver a precise cross or a dangerous free kick as a late substitute, what if he stays on the bench?
Imagine what every Fleet Street tabloid will be screaming: Let Beckham Play.
(If the comparison must be made to the NFL, recall what it was like for Broncos coach John Fox when Tim Tebow was dreadful in training camp, uninspiring in exhibition games and sitting on the bench at the start of the regular season. It didn’t stop fans – or billboards – from beseeching Fox to play him.)
Pearce had come to Los Angeles two weeks ago to watch Beckham play for the Galaxy. Beckham might have made a more compelling case for being included if he had gone to Paris St. Germain after his contract ran out with the Galaxy in December. There he would have played against young European talent each week, proving what he had left to offer.
But Beckham turned down a reportedly more lucrative offer to stay in Los Angeles, where he can play and live in relative comfort, as just another celebrity next door in Beverly Hills, chauffering his three boys to school and doting on his newborn daughter.
It seemed to not be an easy decision, as it took Beckham a month to settle on it. In the end, as he noted, it was based on what was best for his team.
Just the same as Pearce.
