For a 36-year-old pro soccer player who’s about to be out of contract, David Beckham sure has a lot on his plate. The gifted midfielder has enjoyed an incredible career up to now, but there’s so much more he wants to achieve. Beckham is currently playing out his five-year deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS and he’s hoping to win a championship trophy with the club this season before it expires.

To do that though, the Galaxy will have to get past Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Final on Nov. 6 to advance to the MLS Cup. The Galaxy were the top team in the league this season, but unlike most soccer leagues, the MLS has a playoff system to determine the league champions at the end of the regular season.

Beckham hasn’t made up his mind yet what he’s going to do when his MLS season and contract is over, but he doesn’t have much time to make up his mind. French club Paris St Germain is interested in his services as are Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur, both London-based English Premier League teams. Also, the Galaxy are hoping he signs one  more year with them.

But even if Beckham decides to stay in LA for another season it’s a good bet that he’ll head over to Europe to play this winter. The main reason for this is because he also wants to play for Great Britain in next summer’s Olympic Games in London and is also hoping to represent England again in the future.

The former England captain will be a sentimental favourite to play in the Olympics and with the European Championships (Euro 2012) taking place next summer as well and the fact the Olympic soccer teams can only name three players over the age of 23 to their squads, he should be invited. Great Britain’s Olympic soccer coach Stuart Pearce said he’s only going to take players who are in shape and in good form and Beckham easily meets those requirements.

He’s been playing some of the best soccer of career this season and doesn’t really show any signs of slowing down. He said it would be a dream come true to play in the Olympics and he’ll be honoured if selected. He added that he feels great, still loves playing, and isn’t planning on retiring anytime soon, but is concentrating on winning the MLS Cup before deciding who to sign his next contract with.

The former captain of England feels he can keep on playing at a high level and will know when it’s time to hang up his boots, but it isn’t yet. In fact, he also wants to play for his country again before his career’s over and is hoping for a recall to the national squad. He last played for England in October 2009 against Belarus. It looked like he was going to earn a spot on England’s World Cup squad for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, but then suffered a torn Achilles heel and had to sit it out.

He’s played 115 times for his country and would like to add to that number since he hasn’t retired from international soccer. He said he’ll never turn his back on his country if selected and believes he’ll suit up for England again before calling it quits. When that time comes, Beckham said he’d consider buying an MLS franchise to help keep the sport growing in the USA.

European soccer teams will conceivably be at a disadvantage during next year’s Olympic Games due to the fact the European Championships (Euro 2012) will also be taking place next summer. But while there will be four European nations in the Olympic tournament, only two of them, Spain and England will be competing at Euro 2012. And technically, England will be joining Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in a united Great Britain team in the Olympics. Switzerland and Belarus have also qualified for the London Olympics, but they didn’t make it to Euro 2012.

It’s not likely that too many players will end up competing in both tournaments though because the Olympic soccer event is aimed at 23-year-olds and under, with each team being allowed to field three players of any age. England and Spain could have a few younger players on their rosters at Euro 2012, but they’re likely to take more experienced players with them to Poland and Ukraine, who are co-hosting the event.

But this hasn’t stopped some of the top managers in the English Premier League, such as Arsene Wenger of Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United from speaking out about the scheduling conflict. Wenger, who typically whines about anything and everything, said that players shouldn’t be allowed to play in both tournaments. He even went as far as saying that Olympic soccer isn’t a real competition and the Olympics are just track and field events.

However, the English Football Association doesn’t agree with him and said it has no problem with anybody who was selected for both events as long as Great Britain’s Olympic team manager Stuart Pearce can work things out with the England manager Fabio Capello.

There aren’t too many players that could realistically be asked to play for both squads, but most of those who could be selected play for Arsenal. These are Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott. It’s also possible that teammate Aaron Ramsey, who is Welsh, could suit up for the Great Britain Olympic team.

Wenger says he’s worried about the health of the players, but what he really means is he’s concerned about himself and his position as Arsenal manager. These are finely-tuned, professional athletes that Wenger’s talking about. People who get the best medical and training attention in the world and who are pampered with first-class air travel, hotels, and meals. But he’s worried they might get “tired.”

Euro 2012 takes place between June 8 and July 1 and the Olympic soccer event kicks off on July 15 with the final being held at Wembley Stadium on Aug. 11. The Premier League starts on Aug. 15. But only the two teams that play in the Euro 2012 Final will be in action until July 1. Some of the teams will be going home after just three games. The same goes for the Olympics, you need to reach the final to play up until Aug. 11.

Wenger also feels the players shouldn’t have a say in the matter and the FA should make a rule that bans them from playing in the Olympics and Euros. Ferguson, agreed with him to a point. However, instead of saying players shouldn’t go, he said there’s a good chance England might not fare so well at the two competitions because they play in the toughest league in the world and don’t enjoy a winter break.

Spain, who are the reigning World and European Champions, will be in the same position as England next summer. It’s interesting that we haven’t heard any crying from managers over there about the “predicament” they’re in.

I’ve got nothing at all against gay people. Like Jerry and George said on Seinfeld, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” But I sometimes wonder why they’re intent on drawing so much attention to themselves when most of them would like to just live their lives in peace. Many of them seem to be obsessed in advertising their sexual orientation. Take for instance the European Soccer Championships, better known as Euro 2012, which are to take place in Poland and Ukraine. Gay groups are now demanding they be given their own seating section in the stadiums.

This idea was thought up by a gay supporters club for Poland’s national team, known as Rainbow Stand 2012 or Teczowa Trybuna 2012 if you’re Polish. The club said it should get special seating so its members aren’t subject to discrimination and possible violence by heterosexual fans. The club’s website said its members often encounter problems and harassment at games throughout Poland and are sometimes attacked for their sexual preference.

The group has asked UEFA and the organizers Euro 2012 to support them and has even asked the Polish players and coaches to speak up for them in their quest for special sections in the stadiums. Now, sitting with other gays may make you safe from harassment in the immediate vicinity. You don’t really have to worry about being victimised by the people sitting around, in front of you, and behind you.

But as many other gay rights activists have pointed out, sitting in their own section will just attract attention to them and single them out. This could put them more at risk than just mingling in with other fans. The gay section would make them sitting ducks if anybody decided have a go at them and cause a disturbance. The Polish city of Gdansk has already refused the request from the group for special seating saying it would just stigmatize them even more.

They might have a better chance in Warsaw, as the city’s first openly-gay official was elected back in November. However, Warsaw is quite behind the times when it comes to rights for gays and lesbians. It’s believed that about 17 per cent homosexual Poles have been victims of physical violence and about half of them have had to endure insults.

But just about all soccer fans in Poland are subjected to insults when cheering for the opposition, that’s nothing new. Neither is physical violence unfortunately. The only sensible way to cut down on trouble at soccer games is to keep an open section of seats between rival sets of fans. However, that’s usually the last resort as it means there has to be hundreds or thousands of empty seats between fans.

I have a hard time visualizing a stadium that’s separated into three different sections. One for the home team’s fans, one for the visitors, and one for homosexuals. Why would you want to create a clear target for those opposed to your beliefs?