Beckham ruled out for six weeks with a knee ligame

Beckham ruled out for six weeks with a knee ligame

England international David Beckham will miss his country's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia next month after being ruled out for six weeks with a knee ligament injury.

Beckham picked up the injury playing for the LA Galaxy against Mexican team Pachuca on Wednesday.

After a scan on Thursday the team said in a statement that he had suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee and was ruled out for about six weeks.

England will play Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel on September 8 and Russia four days later.

Beckham was substituted in the 33rd minute of the Superliga final against Mexican team Pachuca after a challenge with Fernando Salazar.

It is the latest injury setback for the midfielder, whose two months in the US have been hampered by a nagging ankle problem.

"It's just gone from one thing to another thing. Maybe it is a sign to give it a rest, get it right and not come back until it is right," Beckham told reporters after the game which Galaxy lost on penalties.

The former England captain fell badly and after limping off, he received treatment to his right knee and watched the rest of the match from the bench.

Limping Off

The 32-year-old midfielder missed Sunday's Major League Soccer match against Colorado Rapids after limping off in Thursday's game against Chivas USA.

Beckham had lined up against Chivas the day after playing a full 90 minutes in England's friendly against Germany in London.

Beckham's injury problems began when he twisted his ankle playing for his country against Estonia in June and aggravated it when playing for Real Madrid 11 days later when the Spanish giants clinched the league title.

Galaxy's disappointing season continued with defeat in Wednesday's game, the final of a competition involving eight teams - four from the US and four from Mexico.

Pachuca took the lead in the 28th minute when Argentine winger Christian Giminez slipped the ball across the area only for Galaxy defender Peter Vagenas to turn it into his own net.

With a Mexican victory looking certain, LA took the game into extra-time when Chris Klein produced a spectacular overhead kick after Mike Randolph's header rattled the crossbar.

With no goals in extra-time, the match went to a penalty shootout, which Pachuca won 4-3 after Vagenas, Landon Donovan and Portuguese defender Abel Xavier missed spot kicks for LA.

Can we get this man to NZ and play in Welly in one piece???

I'm more worried about whether England are going to have enough fit players of an international standard. We lack depth in key positions and looked gutless before Beckham's recall.