Galaxy’s Clint Mathis injured, David Beckham closes soccer academies

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It has not been the best of Mondays for Major League Soccer’s Galaxy and a couple of its 30-something midfielders.

First, the club announced that Clint Mathis, 33, will be sidelined for four to six weeks--or basically until the start of the 2010 season--after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Mathis sustained the injury during training last week and had the surgery in Santa Monica on Friday, but the club said nothing about the injury until Monday.

The Galaxy said Mathis “is expected to be available” for the team’s March 27 season opener.

Next, midfielder David Beckham, 34, currently on loan to AC Milan in Italy, has closed his soccer academies in London and Los Angeles, according to an Associated Press report. The lease had expired on the London location and was not renewed, while the Carson site, at the Home Depot Center, shut its doors before Christmas, again without the Galaxy, its owner AEG, or Beckham making any announcement at the time.

--Grahame L. Jones

Livorno player Davide Moro (r) challenges Milan’s David Beckham during the Serie A match AC Milan vs Livorno at Meazza stadium in Milan, Italy, 31 January 2010. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI