Early bath for Becks

13 April 2012

As England's World Cup squad set off today for five days of sun, sand and emotional bonding in Dubai, their Arab hosts were lining up everything the team could possibly want - including a bath for captain David Beckham's foot.

The players are expected to spend their mornings training at the local stadium, part of the Dubai Police Officers' Club. Despite the name, it is no mere coppers' football pitch. It boasts two gyms, a swimming pool, an Olympic standard athletics track - and a state of the art physiotherapy clinic. There, in the hydrotherapy unit, Beckham will have a choice of whirlpool massage baths to speed the recovery of his injured foot - one to lie in and one just to bathe his leg.

England would be hard pressed to find themselves in better hands. The Dubai police give the impression of all being football crazy - the officer in charge is a former club player who will be cheering on England, and his right-hand man used to play for the United Arab Emirates under Don Revie.

"How is Beckham's foot?" asked Brigadier Mohammad Hussain Ali, who runs the stadium. "Is it cured yet?"

He watches Premiership games on satellite television and is remarkably well informed about English football. His favourite player is not Beckham, however, but Michael Owen. "He is very good," he said.

Ever the discreet host, he said he would be supporting England when the World Cup starts, chiefly on the grounds that there is no one else to back. "Saudi Arabia don't have a chance," he said.

There was no doubt today that the arrival of the England team is being treated like a royal visit by the Dubai police.

The city's force have begun a round-the-clock operation with security so tight that each player and his family are to have personal bodyguards at their hotel and at the police club.

The 3,000-seater stadium was getting a fresh coat of paint and when the players turn up tomorrow morning they will be given a fullscale Arab reception, including a performance by the Dubai police pipe band.

One or two clues will remind them that they are far from home. Instead of the tower blocks or council estates that surround many England grounds, the stadium is circled by palm trees, and there are no advertising hoardings - just three gigantic portraits of Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, his brother Sheikh Mohammed, the Crown Prince, and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, president of the UAE.

Despite the extensive facilities at the £12 million club - including a restaurant, a tailors and five snooker tables - there are some things that the Dubai police can do little about.

The heat, for instance: even at 9.30 in the morning, when the team is due to arrive for training, the temperature is already about 39C, rising to about 45C by lunchtime.

"Perhaps they will train at night after the first day," said the Brigadier.

Thanks to an underground sprinkler system, the pitch has a luxurious and bouncy green turf which would not be out of a place at a Premiership ground even though it is on the edge of the desert and sees less rain in a year than some grounds get on a Saturday afternoon.

"These are the best facilities in the United Arab Emirates," said the Brigadier. "Even the national side trains here."

The Jumeirah Beach Club, where the players will stay with their wives, boasts 48 suites, each with separate sleeping and sitting areas, a Jacuzzi and balcony with an integrated music and television system and fax machine.

There is a gym, tennis courts, squash courts, sauna, steam room, swimming pools, watersports as well as a glorious view over the Arabian Gulf.

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Early bath for Becks

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