The Queensland Government has officially confirmed that the Queensland Roar will take on David Beckham’s LA Galaxy in a one-off promotional game at Suncorp Stadium on December 11, and firebrand Danny Tiatto couldn’t be happier.
Former Manchester City midfielder Tiatto, who squared off against Beckham when the superstar was plying his trade for Manchester United, was looking forward to the challenge of the game against the Los Angelse-based side.
“Definitely, that’s going to be a good game to be involved with, especially with the likes of David Beckham being there … it’ll be good for all the boys to play a game like that,” Tiatto said.
“I played against him a number of times in a couple of derbies in Manchester, so it’ll be good to lock horns again and have a bit of a kick about with him.”
Tiatto revealed that he had minded Beckham on a number of occasions and was expecting the English star would have remembered his physical treatment.
“Yeah, we had a bit of a kick at each other but that’s not unusual for me,” he said.
“I think he might have a couple of scars maybe from it, so I think he will remember the clashes we had, but that’s water under the bridge, we’re just looking forward to playing that game.”
Just how much Tiatto may have niggled Beckham in their English Premier League derbies became clear when the Roar midfielder circumspectly answered whether or not he would be trying to swap shirts after the game.
“I think he probably won’t even give it to me, especially if I’m going to be marking him again, no it’ll be a good occasion to play against him,” Tiatto said.
“This time I think will be a little more friendly performance from both sides, and myself as well.”
Roar coach Frank Farina celebrated the fixture with the Major League Soccer side and vowed not to rest any of his stars, despite the match occurring mid-week.
“For football followers, particularly in Brisbane and Queensland, it’s fantastic,” he said.
“The more international football you can get in your city and state is not only good for football followers, but I think great for the game to keep promoting the A-League and Australian football.”
“Its fantastic and it’s only three days before we play Newcastle, so that may be a bit of a concern, but we’ll be going out there with a strong side and trying to win the game.”
Beckham and the Galaxy made a one-off appearance in Australia last year when they went down 5-3 to Sydney FC in front of more than 80,000 fans.
