Knee injury sidelines Beckham for one month

Mar 5, 2007, 23:12 GMT

Madrid, Spain - Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham will miss the next four weeks after suffering a knee injury in his club's 1-1 draw against Getafe on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Beckham sustained an injury to the internal lateral ligament in his knee while crossing the ball and running into advertising boards behind the goal. He will not take part in the team's Round of 16 Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday, and will also miss the squad's La Liga showdown with Barcelona next weekend.

Beckham fell out of favor with manager Fabio Capello after signing a lucrative contract to join the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer at the end of the current season. He has since worked his way back into the starting lineup and has played quite well. Madrid is currently in fourth place in the league standings, six points off the pace of leaders Sevilla.

The recent run of good form exhibited by Beckham has also drawn the attention of England manager Steve McLaren, who has reportedly expressed interest in bringing the midfielder back to play for the national team. Beckham stepped down as captain of the national team following the 2006 World Cup, and has not played with the team since. However, with England facing a pair of critical qualifiers for Euro 2008 against Israel and Andorra at the end of the month, McLaren was expected to welcome the former skipper back to the team, but the injury he suffered on Sunday will not allow that to happen.

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