David Beckham picked up his fifth yellow card of the season at the Columbus Crew Saturday and will be suspended for the team's penultimate game, a road trip to Houston. The midfielder, who has five goals and nine assists in 24 starts this season, will also miss this coming weekend's home game against the Colorado Rapids because he's on international duty with England.
Houston will remain the only MLS team where Beckham has yet to play, but by the time he gets there in 2009, excitement about the prospect of seeing him live in the flesh may well have worn off for Houston-area fans. Beckham's contributions in recent weeks have been negligible, notably on the road trips to the Kansas City Wizards and Columbus.
The Houston Chronicle reported that 23,000 advance tickets have been sold for the game, and that the team expects a sellout. Beckham will be available again for the final game of the season, at home with FC Dallas. But by then the Galaxy's playoff hopes could well be gone for another year.