CARSON, Calif. -- Two weeks after his splashy introduction with the Los Angeles Galaxy and a week after playing briefly in his first game, David Beckham remains a bit of an enigma.
Blame it on a nagging left ankle injury that has kept the English star off the practice field and mostly out of sight since joining the team July 13.
Beckham will miss his second conecutive game Saturday night, when the Galaxy play 11-time Mexican first division champion Chivas in a SuperLiga tournament game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
"He won't be playing tomorrow, but he's feeling better, the soreness is going," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said Friday. "He gets a lot of work done on it and it gets sore, then the work that he's had done is obviously helping it, so the soreness keeps getting lighter and lighter. Once he gets out here and puts his boots on, he'll be close to being ready to go."
Beckham missed another training session Friday while receiving treatment. The scar tissue in his ankle has caused pain, tightness and restricted his movement, although he is doing cardio work, Yallop said.
"We can't send him out there if he's not going to play well," the coach added.
Yallop said the team is targeting Aug. 5 at Toronto for Beckham's return, which would be the start of a four-game MLS road trip.
That leaves Beckham questionable for Tuesday's SuperLiga game against FC Dallas in Texas. Yallop said the team would decide Monday whether Beckham would travel if he can't play.
The 32-year-old midfielder watched Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Pachuca with family members in a private box at Home Depot Center. Yallop said where Beckham will watch Saturday's game was being worked out.
"We're hoping that he can be on the bench to see the game from close in," he said.
Yallop urged patience for fans who bought tickets expecting to see Beckham.
"They'll have plenty of opportunity to see him, but we want to make sure they see a good product, too," the coach said. "It's not about him stepping on for five minutes and waving."
Beckham hasn't spoken to the media since last Saturday after playing 16 minutes, including four minutes of injury time, in his debut, a 1-0 loss to Chelsea.
