The verbal confrontation in which David Beckham became embroiled with André Rocha, of Brazil, late in the Los Angeles Galaxy's goalless draw away to FC Dallas in a friendly on Saturday may have lost something in translation but it demonstrated one undeniable fact: Beckham's desire to play for England for the 100th time, and beyond, has not been dulled by him plying his trade in an undeniably inferior standard of football.
"I've always said I always want to be available for my country. I don't want to let go of that and I still love passionately playing for my country. Nothing's ever going to change that," the former England captain said. "I might be playing on the other side of the world but nothing will change the passion.
"I don't know how much longer I can play for England � it's obviously down to other people to decide that. I always want to be available."
Had Franco Baldini, the England general manager sent on a near 10,000-mile round trip to Pizza Hut Park to assess Beckham's fitness, troubled himself to speak to the midfield player after the game, he may have been able to glean that information for himself.
However, this was clearly a day for noncommunication, as Dario Sala, the Dallas goalkeeper, explained when asked what Beckham and Rocha had said to each other during their altercation.
"Rocha doesn't speak English and Beckham doesn't speak Portuguese," Sala said. "So I don't know." The practicalities of the preseason game � Beckham's sixth of the Galaxy's warm-up campaign � are that the 32-year-old has obviously lost none of his exquisite passing abilities, from open play or set-pieces, and his game fitness looked perfectly adequate.
The MLS, for all its limitations, lacks little in terms of the athleticism and speed of its players and the only conclusion to be drawn from the exercise of sending Baldini to assess the player is that should Fabio Capello, the England manager, leave Beckham out of his squad for the friendly against France on March 26, he might be doing so for more than footballing reasons. Capello will name an initial squad on Wednesday or Thursday this week before announcing the final squad at the weekend.
For, as Beckham was frank enough to point out, while he may be unable to beat defenders with pace or trickery, he was never able to do so.
"It's not as if my game will ever change because people say the standard is different here," Beckham said. "My game will always be the same. Give me five yards and I'll put the ball in where someone will want it."
The closest a sell-out crowd of 20,500 came to seeing a goal was late in proceedings when a superb Beckham pass landed on Landon Dono-van's boot from 45 yards and allowed the United States forward to produce a chip that was superbly saved by Sala.
Moments later, Beckham lost his composure in arguing with a linesman and then Rocha, and it was hard not to conclude that he may have been trying that little bit too hard in the circumstances, a charge denied by the player. "People might think there is extra pressure on my side, but there is always pressure on me," Beckham said. "He [Baldini] is obviously coming to see how my fitness is and how my form is. It's only natural that is going to happen.
"I just had to go out and perform, play the balls I can play, work hard, show I'm fit again. That's all I can do."
As well as the England subplot, Beckham was also cast in the unfamiliar role � unfamiliar for the MLS, anyway � of villain. A fair number of home supporters booed him at the final whistle, not only because of his booking but because they remain angered that he missed a league game in Dallas last season through injury.
"It was a nice game on a great pitch with nice fans � well, the majority were," Beckham joked. "I got a bit of stick from some of them, but that's normal.
"People are always sceptical about me moving to MLS when I'm still pretty young, but I always said I saw it as a move to a league and a country that is going somewhere in soccer.
"I'm proud to be part of that and I wanted to be here when I'm still young enough to perform at a high level." Whether Baldini believes Beckham is still performing at such a level remains a mystery. "I haven't spoken to him," Beckham said. "But I realised that he was here and I hope he enjoys Dallas and I hope he enjoyed the game."
