Becks Faces Mission Impossible - 08/09/2007

Sir Alex Ferguson believes that, when it comes to winning hearts and minds among the American sporting public after his recent move to the Los Angeles Galaxy, David Beckham faces what his new celebrity friend Tom Cruise may recognise as Mission: Impossible. Major League Soccer signed Beckham on a five-year contract worth up to £128m in an attempt to take the sport's popularity in the United States to new levels, but Ferguson believes that the failures of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s indicate the size of the task faced by his former protegé. 'In the late 1970s I went to America with Aberdeen and there were guys like [Teófilo] Cubillas [the former Peru forward] there,' Ferguson told an audience at Glasgow's Citizens Theatre. 'Before that there was Pelé, [Johan] Cruyff, [Franz] Beckenbauer. It is difficult with David going there. I don't know what kind of impact he can make. David Beckham himself cannot change the whole country.'

'Also the size of the country makes it difficult. In European football, and especially British football, you can travel easily. If you're in Boston and need to go to Los Angeles, it's a six hour flight. Supporters don't travel, so you are missing that rivalry between fans. So you have a problem. To make it substantial you would have to go regional, but there's not enough teams to have four strong leagues.' When I was in the States recently the whole media focus was on Beckham's injury problems which have not helped his image or that of MSL.