World famous soccer star David Beckham on Thursday got a new coach, Ruud Gullit, who was a Dutch soccer star of the 1980s and 1990s.

 

Gullit, who once played against Beckham in England, succeeded Frank Yallop to coach Beckham and the rest of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

 

Yallop was released from his contract on Monday to become coach of the San Jose Earthquakes.

 

Gullit was named the world's "Player of the Year" by the British magazine World Soccer in 1987 and 1989. When he was named "European Footballer of the Year" in 1987, he dedicated the award to the then-imprisoned anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.

 

Gullit coached Chelsea to a victory in England's FA Cup in 1997 and Newcastle United to the FA Cup final in 1999.

 

Gullit has been absent from coaching since 1999, outside of a nine-month stint with the Dutch club Feyenoord from 2004-2005. Since then, he has been a soccer commentator on British television and hosted a talk show on Dutch TV, where his guests included Mandela.

 

Gullit, 45, inherits a team that has missed the Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs each of the past two seasons.

 

The Galaxy's fortunes were expected to rise with Beckham's midseason arrival, but a series of injuries limited him to five games in MLS play in which the Galaxy went 0-4-1, as Beckham was held scoreless with two assists.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2007)