If David Beckham ever wondered what he was in for while playing for the L.A. Galaxy in Major League Soccer, he doesn’t have to wonder any longer. The game between Chivas USA and the L.A. Galaxy last Thursday told him more than he needed to know, about players, and more importantly, referees.

After hopping off the ‘plane from England, where he had played in a friendly international against Germany on Wednesday, the poor lad must have been tired. Two games in two days—no matter how enthusiastic and determined you are—will wear you down. And when you are tired, your mood isn’t always bright and cheerful if someone tries to take a piece of you.

And that happened just before half-time in the Chivas/Galaxy game, which was both scoreless and getting a little “chippy”, “niggly”, “nasty”, however you want to put it. At least that was what spectators, various members of the press, and Joe Machnik, director of officiating services for MLS thought, although the referee seemed oblivious. And then Jesse Marsch, a midfielder for Chivas, put some leather into Goldenballs, more literally than not.

Chasing after Beckham in the middle of the field, Marsch swung his right boot hip-high and kicked his opponent in the front of his pelvis, and from behind. Down went Beckham, but was as quickly up on his feet to charge straight at Marsch, until they were nose-to-nose snarling at each other like angry dogs, although wise enough not to bite.

The laws of the game are quite clear on this kind of challenge: “A tackle which endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play.” (A player guilty of serious foul play must be sent off.)

As you can see from the LA Times photographthe high boot definitely endangers Beckham’s safety (!), especially since Marsch’s kick comes from behind his opponent and was delivered with the ball more than six feet away and unreachable. Take a look for yourself on the video of the incident.

And what was Marsch’s fatuous explanation for the nastiness? “He kind of got a piece of me the play before that and so it was somewhat of a retaliation, (and) somewhat of a tactical foul because he was on the break,” Marsch said in an AP report of the game. In other words, a younger and less-skilled player was going to show the superstar how tough he was! Beckham will see this kind of behavior again. Count on it.

Then comes the referee’s response: slow and inadequate. A yellow card that should have been red, and then two reds for players (one for each team, so as not to create an imbalance…) who were involved in the melee after the foul. In other words, the players knew how serious the foul was, but not the referee. In MLS, Beckham will see that kind of refereeing weakness again. Count on it.

During 1976-79, Rodney Marsh, another skillful midfielder from England, also came over to the U.S., where he played in the North American Soccer league (NASL) for Tampa Bay. He was asked recently by a journalist from the Mail in England what David Beckham could expect here. His pithy comments included this: “. . he won’t understand that the referees . . offer little protection from young men who will be looking to make a name for themselves at David’s expense.” Rod, how right you are!

I promise you that Beckham and his fans can expect more of this kind of stuff in the weeks to come, and also in the next few years, if US Soccer and MLS don’t sort out the refereeing.