Resurgent Beckham powering Real to top of La Liga

	David Beckham, who worked hard to regain his spot in Real's lineup, needs just two more wins to raise his first Spanish soccer trophy. Denis Doyle/Getty Images
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MADRID, Spain -- A funny thing happened here on David Beckham's path to European soccer irrelevance.

Beckham has made himself matter again at the highest levels of the sport. And the Los Angeles Galaxy are suddenly starting to look like a band of geniuses for signing the 32-year-old Beckham to a guaranteed five-year, $32.5 million contract (plus mega-incentives) before his remarkable resurgence on the European stage.

The latest chapter in Beckham's revival came on Saturday, when England manager Steve McClaren announced he was recalling Beckham to the national team for the first time since last summer's excruciating quarterfinal exit from the World Cup.

It's a move that was unthinkable in January, when Beckham's England career appeared doomed and Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello proclaimed that Becks would never play again for his team after signing with Los Angeles, the Major League Soccer outfit he's set to join in July.

Now Beckham is expected to be in the lineup on Friday when England meets Brazil in a friendly at the new Wembley Stadium -- and when it takes on Estonia in a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier the following Wednesday.

Yet Beckham has done more than just work his tail off (and keep his mouth shut) to regain his spot in Madrid's starting lineup. He has also rediscovered the game-changing qualities of his finest years. On Saturday night, he took the field here at the Estadio Bernabéu and produced another gem in a series of sterling performances that have helped thrust Real Madrid to the top of Spain's La Liga.

In a pressure-packed race that's infinitely more compelling than the NBA or NHL playoffs, Madrid beat Deportivo La Coruña 3-1 to maintain the slimmest of advantages over archrival Barcelona. Pundits here are calling it the best league finish in a decade, and who's to argue? With two games remaining, both Madrid and Barça have 72 points, but Madrid owns the tie-breaker based on head-to-head results.

Beckham needs only two more wins to raise his first trophy in Spanish soccer, and on Saturday he was breathtaking. Time and again he whipped ferocious crosses into the box, unhinged the Depor defense with 40-yard passes on a dime and hustled to save balls that most players would have let roll out of bounds.

It was Beckham's cross (with his supposedly useless left foot) that set up Madrid's first goal, Beckham's pinpoint free kick that Raúl headed in for the game-winning strike, and Beckham's set-piece blast that pinged off the right post early in the second half. More than 80,000 adoring madridistas roared their approval, and the city's farewell love affair with Beckham only continued when I picked up the Spanish sports dailies on Sunday morning.