David Beckham's final game for Real Madrid may have come and gone a little sooner than the soccer player had expected.

Coach Fabio Capello said Beckham won't play again for the Spanish club after announcing his departure at the end of the season for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

David Beckham has been forced to sit on the Real Madrid bench this year while the younger and quicker Jose Antonio Reyes has impressed on the right side of midfield.
(Denis Doyle/Associated Press)

"He will practise, but he is not going to play," Capello said at a news conference Saturday.

Beckham announced this week he will not extend his contract with Real Madrid when it expires in June and is instead leaving for Galaxy on a reported five-year, $250-million US contract.

"The player's decision is to go to Los Angeles. He has always been a great professional, but a player who has such a major contract with another team," Capello added, "we cannot count on him."

Beckham's spokesman, Simon Oliveira, said the midfielder would "continue to give his full commitment and professionalism to the club."

"David is surprised at the quotes from Fabio Capello, as nobody from the club has informed him of their intentions," Oliveira said. "As far as David is aware, he has a contract for the remainder of the season and he remains dedicated to the club and its supporters."

Capello said he'd not spoken with Beckham since the former England captain announced his new deal.

"I think one cannot have the same drive if one is already with another team. But I repeat that he is a great professional," Capello said.

"Now he must stay in good physical condition, but we cannot rely on him. I have never had even the smallest problem with Beckham. He has to decide what to do until the end of the season."

Beckham had been negotiating with Real Madrid for several months, but was reluctant to sign a new deal because he has only started seven of 25 games this season, the first under new coach Capello.

On Friday, Beckham told a worldwide audience he is coming to the United States to help boost the sport's popularity in that country.

"I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play [soccer]," Beckham said Friday via satellite from Madrid.

"I'm not saying me coming to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America.… But I think soccer has a huge, huge potential. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe in this project. This could create something that we've all never seen before."

Los Angeles is convinced Beckham, 31, can help it win championships and raise the sport's profile in the U.S.

A regular starter during his first three seasons with Real Madrid, Beckham has been forced to sit on the bench this year while the younger and quicker Jose Antonio Reyes has impressed on the right side of midfield, the territory once thought to be the exclusive domain of the Englishman.

Beckham's impending arrival is a major coup for MLS, the top professional soccer league in the United States.

The league kicked off in 1996 with 10 teams and boasted surprisingly strong attendance the first season. Numbers declined slightly after the first year, but stabilized in subsequent years thanks to the league's TV deal with ABC and ESPN.

With files from the Associated Press