I loved playing with David Beckham at LA Galaxy – but he never let me take any free-kicks, says USMNT icon Eddie Lewis
USMNT icon Eddie Lewis capped a successful club career by playing alongside David Beckham at Los Angeles Galaxy.
But Lewis’s spell with Beckham in the LA Galaxy midfield did not always go the way he intended.
GettyEddie Lewis in action for the Los Angeles Galaxy[/caption]
GettyLewis was a teammate of David Beckham at the MLS club from 2008-10[/caption]
GettyBeckham rarely allowed Lewis to take any free-kicks at the Galaxy[/caption]
GettyBut Lewis has nothing but fond memories of their time together[/caption]
Lewis established himself as a successful free-kick specialist during his time with Derby County, Preston North End, Fulham, and Leeds United.
But when the World Cup star was brought into LA Galaxy midfield to revive the Beckham project in MLS in 2008, he was left watching set pieces from the sidelines.
Lewis describes the memory as a “sore spot.”
“We trained sometimes before games, and obviously you’re going through a few reps and I’d be on absolute fire,” Lewis tells The U.S. Sun.
“And we kind of talked about it and certain free-kicks were very much gonna be mine.
“But then all of a sudden we’d get in the game and, you know, obviously anytime he’s on the ball on a free-kick, I think he thinks he’s got a good chance of scoring and truth be told he’s got a better record than I do.
“So, yeah, I’d always end up giving in – but if that was the worst part of the experience, then it wasn’t too bad.”
Lewis has nothing but fond memories of his two years with Beckham in MLS, in which the team won the Supporters’ Shield in 2010.
“It was a very interesting time. I joined the team after David had been there for a couple of years,” Lewis said.
“It hadn’t been going particularly well for the Galaxy at that point, and really myself and a couple others, I think really helped turn the tide…
“…and kind of really bridge the gap between David who was up here and a bunch of players on the Galaxy that was just difficult from a chemistry standpoint.
“I think really being a part of helping to bring everybody together and really get the best out of David and guys like Landon [Donovan] and certainly was something I was proud of.”
Lewis was as impressed with Beckham’s efforts off the field as those during games.
“David had every opportunity to kind of be bigger than everybody else if you will,” he said.
“And never once from the effort he would provide in training or never taking days off or how he approached the game from a professional standpoint, I think always was for me, just as valuable, particularly for some of the younger players as his contributions on the field.”
Since retiring, Lewis has gone on to form leading high-tech soccer business TOCA Football.
In a TOCA training facility, specially-designed machines fire smaller-than-regulation-sized balls to players at different heights, speeds and angles to allow for a high volume of repetition without significant muscle fatigue.
Players get an average of 300 touches in an hour-long training session.
The U.S. SunLewis speaks to The U.S. Sun about his time with LA Galaxy[/caption]
TOCA FootballThe World Cup star has launched tech-based soccer company TOCA Football[/caption]
The technology-based training platform has facilities in 39 cities in 15 states and is now the largest operator of indoor soccer centers in North America.
The California-based company also operates TOCA Social, a soccer-based social experience which operates in the United Kingdom and plans to expand to the US.
Among its celebrity investors are Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane, England women’s star Leah Williamson, world chess champion Magnus Carlsen and, most recently, Chicago Fire midfielder Kellyn Acosta.
Such has been its growth that TOCA signed a 10-year partnership with Major League Soccer in 2022 to serve as official training and entertainment facility partner.
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