It’s been a tough year for DaMarcus Beasley. The fleet-footed winger has found himself frozen out at the club level, with Rangers in Scotland, and a series of dismal showings for the United States national team have seen his stock plummet. The former Chicago Fire player is back home in Indiana for the next three weeks taking a break. “My mind-set is to take a vacation [from soccer],” Beasley told the The News-Sentinel.
Before the upcoming season Beasley wants to keep his career in perspective. “This is probably the toughest year that I’ve had in my career,” Beasley said. “People forget the fact that I’ve played 89 times for my country [and] I’ve played in two World Cups. They say at 27 my best years are behind me, but 27 is where I’m hitting my prime. I had a bad year last year and that’s it. It’s just [going to be] how I rebound from this.”
The 5-foot-9 midfielder was most recently with the national team in South Africa as part of a miraculous run to the Confederations Cup final. Despite a disappointing individual performance, Beasley expressed pride for his team. “The first two games we weren’t confident in ourselves,” Beasley said. “The boys did great — they played really well in the past three games.” Beasley says he knows the simple answer to regaining his confidence and form. “I just need to play football again,” Beasley said. “That’s all, I just need to find a team and go play for them.”