New World man

FOXBOROUGH -- Let us commend David Beckham. He does not whine about the paparazzi.

"There's nothing I can do about the attention," he says. "It's a part of my life, and I've never complained about it. It's an honor to have that much attention on myself.

"The only time I may wish I had more privacy is when I want to take my kids to the park or the beach."

But as it comes out of his lips, it doesn't register as a complaint. It's merely an abstract thought.

He's just a football-loving kid from Leytonstone in the east of London who grew up wanting desperately to play for Manchester United, which he did. The rest of this business -- like, you know, marrying a Spice Girl at the peak of her fame and becoming one-half of an international jet-set couple in so doing -- well, he just kind of fell into that.

But he's made a nice adjustment.

Nothing is ever simple with David Beckham. He incensed an entire country by being red-carded in a losing 1998 World Cup game against Argentina. He left Man U for Real Madrid, and I really can't give you an American equivalent. He gained and lost a national team captaincy. He's had an on-again, off-again, on-again relationship with his national team. Oh, and let's not forget the Keira Knightley movie, "Bend It Like Beckham," which is the only way about half of America ever heard of him.

Now he has his biggest challenge yet. In return for an estimated $250 million over five years, he is having an entire league placed on his back.

I guess this is as good a time as any to inform anyone in possession of a ticket to the match tonight between your New England Revolution and Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy that Beckham's participation is in question because of that pesky left ankle.

"I'm not sure at this point," he was saying late yesterday afternoon. "My ankle flared up a bit after the last game, and it is swollen from flying. I hope I can play some minutes. I'm not 100 percent sure I will. If I don't play, it's for a good reason, not because I'm being soft."

Sooner or later, David Beckham will get healthy and then the real fun will start. He can go about the business of helping the Galaxy win games while elevating the profile of Major League Soccer and the sport in this country as an ambassador. It's not as if he's the first. We had Pelé. We had Chinaglia. We had Cruyff. We've had a lot of fading international stars over here, but we've never before had one who's just as likely to be on the cover of People as Sports Illustrated or ESPN The Magazine.

And he is only 32. He has a few patented benders left in those legs.

David Beckham loves his sport, and he wants us to learn to love it, too.

"I'd be honored to be considered as an ambassador," he says. "That's one thing we talked about when I joined the Galaxy."

The man knows where he is and what he's up against.

"I've said this so often, people back home don't want to hear it anymore," he begins. "America is the most sports-loving country in the world. I know all about baseball, basketball, football, and ice hockey, and all the great athletes there. I know that soccer will never be in that category in this country. I wish it could be, because it is so exciting.

"But it can achieve a higher place. I know about the traditions the other sports have. That can't change, and it shouldn't change. But I do think we can raise the level of interest in soccer."

He admits he's never really analyzed just what has caused soccer to lag in interest on these shores. After all, baseball derives from the British game of rounders and football is a ripoff of rugby. So I threw him a pet theory.

Hands. Aren't Americans used to games depending more on hands?

"I've never thought about that before," he muses. "But here's the weird truth: I've got three boys, ages 8, 5, and 2, and each one of them, from the time they could stand up, if there was, say, a can of baked beans on the floor, they would kick it toward you.

"But whatever the reason, I have wondered why soccer wasn't more popular with Americans. There are so many great moments, magic moments, in every game."

Whenever he gets back on the pitch, the man American fans will see is not the same person he was prior to that fateful day in the 1998 World Cup when he reacted to a foul by Argentina's Diego Simeone by kicking the Argentine in the calf. He was red-carded, England lost the game, and guess who became Britain Public Enemy No. 1 -- everywhere, that is, except Manchester (shades of Barry?)?

"That was the toughest thing I've ever gone through," he says. "Coming back from that is the biggest achievement of my life, apart from getting married and having kids. To go from where I was in '98 to where I am now is my biggest achievement. I couldn't have done it without the support of my wife, my parents, my grandparents, the fans in Manchester, and [legendary Man U manager] Sir Alex Ferguson, who looked after me and who has always been a father figure in my life [a few public spats notwithstanding]."

The apex of his Manchester United career came in 1999, when his team won the Premiership, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. But very high on his list of career satisfactions was last year's Spanish League championship won with Real Madrid.

"The way we won was so incredible," he says, alluding to a string of late game-winning goals and goals in extra time and so forth. "I honestly think it was fate."

His first three years in Madrid were disappointing. What should have been a super team was a dysfunctional conglomeration of walking soccer corporations, and things were even worse because the beneficiary of Real Madrid's bumbling was archrival Barcelona, about which Beckham simply says, "It's the greatest rivalry I've ever been involved in."

While he was saying the right things publicly about his experience in Madrid, inside he was dying.

"It was very important that we win something," he says.

Well, they did, and he was able to leave Madrid and come to LA with a much clearer conscience.

But being comfortable in his own heavily tattooed skin is not one of David Beckham's problems. If, in 20 years, all that people remember about David Beckham is an ability to impart such a dazzling arc on a free kick that this skill inspired a movie title, that will be just fine with him. "Without a doubt," he declares.

"I really wouldn't change anything in my life," he says. "Well, I would not get thrown out of that World Cup game if I had a choice, but if I hadn't, and I hadn't gone through everything that came out of that, I might not be as strong a person or as good a soccer player as I am today."

So bring on the cameras. David Beckham doesn't mind.

"Every time I step out or go onto the playing field, I'm honored to get the attention," he says.

I find that rather refreshing.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com.