David Beckham (R) and his Los Angeles Galaxy teammate Peter Vanegas practice during the first training session for the 2008 Major League Soccer season in Carson, California Feb. 4, 2008.

Soccer star David Beckham and his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates began training for the 2008 Major League Soccer (MLS) season on Monday, hoping to erase the memories of an injury-filled and disappointing 2007 season.

Beckham made his debut with the Galaxy on July 21 of last year amid one of the greatest promotional buildups in American sports history.

However, Beckham missed five of the next six games because of an ankle injury sustained June 6 while playing for England in a Euro 2008 qualifying game against Estonia.

His performance disappointed fans and raising questions about the team's credibility regarding its statements on Beckham's health.

Beckham then sustained a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the Aug. 29 Super Liga final against the Mexican team Pachuca and didn't play again until an Oct. 18 MLS game against the New York Red Bulls.

By the time the MLS season ended Oct. 21 with the Galaxy failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season, Beckham had missed twice as many games, 16, as he played. He played eight games in various competitions, scoring one goal and assisting on three others.

Since the end of the MLS season, the Galaxy changed coaches. Ruud Gullit, a Dutch soccer star of the 1980s and 1990s who played and coached against Beckham in England, succeeded Frank Yallop, who was released from his contract to become coach of the San Jose Earthquakes, an MLS expansion team.

The Galaxy will begin 2008 play Feb. 20 by facing Gamba Osaka of Japan's J-League in the Pan-Pacific Championship in Honolulu. It will play a second tournament game Feb. 23, then head to Seoul, South Korea, for a March 1 exhibition against FC Seoul, and Shanghai, China, for a March 5 exhibition against the China All-Star Union team.

Following the June 30 expiration of his contract with Spain's Real Madrid, Beckham signed a five-year contract on Jan. 11, 2007,that could bring him as much as 250 million dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)