In the end, the Golden Boy (or Golden Balls as the British tabloids call him) got it exactly his way in moving on from Real Madrid, the most storied club in soccer history, to MLS for a deal estimated to be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 million over five seasons. David Beckham, in fact, had made up his mind to join the L.A. Galaxy some time ago, as evidenced by the quickness with which he announced his decision to join MLS after Real Madrid announced that it had grown tired of him stalling over the two-year contract extension on the table and demanded an answer. But Beckham was fine to continue stalling right up until the moment Fabio Capello-needing to blame someone for Real’s third loss in four league games-announced that Beckham, Ronaldo and Antonio Cassano were no longer in his plans. But if Madrid thought they could force Beckham into an earlier departure and a transfer fee, they were wrong. And they’ll be forced to swallow that, hard, while Beckham bides his time until moving on to conquer America. Indeed, all it seems Madrid wanted to retain him for was a hefty cut of his considerable image rights. Now Fabio Capello won’t be able to get rid of this scapegoat-not until his contract expires in June, which means Beckham may get his wish after all: to win a major trophy with Real Madrid. Los Merengues are five points behind league leader FC Sevilla; who knows, if Capello’s youngsters continue to struggle, he may even be forced to recall “Golden Balls” to deliver a few more timely crosses and free kicks.