Footballer David Beckham hit out at claims that his Los Angeles Galaxy side was 'a pub team' and that the Major League Soccer was 'a Mickey Mouse league'.
LONDON: Footballer David Beckham hit out at claims that his Los Angeles Galaxy side was 'a pub team' and that the Major League Soccer was 'a Mickey Mouse league', in an interview published on Sunday.
Beckham also dismissed suggestions that the burden of travelling between the United States and England's international games would be too much for him.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star said he had felt when around LA Galaxy's bosses, manager and coach "how much it hurt them when people who don't know anything were turning round and calling the Galaxy a pub team and calling the MLS a Mickey Mouse league."
Many sportswriters in Britain have criticised the former England captain's decision to join the club and criticised the standard of the game in the US.
"I don't know whether it's ignorance or snobbery or whether it's that the people saying these things have never played the game or watched it being played here, but they should be sitting here now, watching us beat a team that's won the Mexican league two years running," he added.
"The standard is nowhere near as low as people have been saying it is.
"For a start, you have to be incredibly fit and physically strong to play here: America's a country, after all, that produces some of the best athletes in the world."
Beckham joined LA Galaxy at the start of this season in a deal reportedly worth 250 million dollars (183 million euros).
The interview in the Observer newspaper was apparently conducted before he suffered a knee sprain last week which will sideline him for six weeks, meaning he will miss England's two September Euro 2008 qualifying matches.
He admitted that the workload in recent weeks had been "starting to wear me out, to be honest". But Beckham insisted playing for his country was still important to him, regardless of how much travelling it would entail.
"The Galaxy have made it clear that they'll do anything they can to help me play for my country. They know how passionate I am about it.
"Everyone's working together."
He also spoke of how happy his family, including his wife Victoria, a member of pop group the Spice Girls, was in Los Angeles.
"I can't think of many better places: for me, for the kids, for Victoria. I haven't seen Victoria happier than this in the 10 years we've been together," he said.
"That on its own makes having come here worthwhile.
"The house is lovely, the schools are sorted, the boys are excited."
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