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Beckham hails Fowler effect on the A-League

Roar Guru
25th November, 2010
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England superstar David Beckham believes the recruitment of Robbie Fowler has been a huge success for the A-League and won’t completely rule out a stint in the competition himself.

The 35-year-old England midfielder arrived in Australia on Thursday ahead of LA Galaxy’s friendly match against the Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Saturday.

A bleary-eyed Beckham typically said all the right things in a brief stopover in Sydney before boarding a flight to the Hunter, taking time to hail the impact of former England teammate Fowler, who has impressed in stints with Perth Glory and North Queensland Fury.

“Obviously I’ve seen the progress of Robbie here and saw his hat-trick the other day,” Beckham said.

“He’s been such a great player for so many different clubs, especially Liverpool, over the years so the success of having him here for the league is immense.”

Asked whether he would consider a similar move when his deal with the Galaxy expires at the end of next season, Beckham was again diplomatic.

“I’m enjoying the whole experience and I’ve got another year and a bit yet left so it’s something I haven’t thought about, after the contract, but you never know,” he said.

Beckham will face an A-League side for the third time in his career on Saturday night.

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In 2007, he thrilled a packed ANZ Stadium by scoring a trademark free kick in a 5-3 loss to Sydney FC.

The Galaxy then travelled to New Zealand where they defeated the Wellington Phoenix 4-1, with Beckham converting a penalty.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star said he hoped to produce more fireworks in front of a likely sell-out crowd in Newcastle.

“It didn’t really go to script (last time against Sydney),” he said.

“I was happy with the goal but we lost the game so we weren’t so happy.

“It would be nice to get another one of those but it doesn’t happen every time.”

Another of the Galaxy’s big names, American star Landon Donovan, said the squad were looking forward to having some fun Down Under after narrowly failing to reach the MLS final earlier this month.

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“It’s not often that you get to play games where there’s not as much pressure,” said Donovan, who spent time on loan with Everton in the Premier League last season.

“We want to show ourselves well, both as the Galaxy and also our league, but we’re going to enjoy ourselves, have some fun … we’ll be on the beach a few days.”

Both Beckham and Donovan are pushing their respective nations’ World Cup bids ahead of the announcement of hosts for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

But Beckham sat on the fence when asked about Australia’s prospects at beating the US to host the event in 2022.

“I think that both countries could host a huge competition like the World Cup,” Beckham said.

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