The sun came out in Seattle on Friday afternoon, not five minutes after Landon Donovan and David Beckham had expressed their pure and undying love for each other.
I'm not saying the two incidents were connected but in a city that has seen constant rain for the past week here in America's Pacific north-west, maybe it wasn't a solar phenomenon at all. Perhaps, just perhaps, it was the sheer, unadulterated glow of affection that football's greatest bro-mance was generating so powerfully from a press conference room deep in the heart of Qwest Field.
Beckham and Donovan, of course, were barely speaking four months ago. With Goldenballs away in Italy completing an extended loan deal at AC Milan rather than shuffling back to Los Angeles for the start of the 2009 Major League Soccer season, Donovan got the hump and trashed the Englishman in an interview he had given to Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl for the writer's book “The Beckham Experiment”.
Having had his commitment to the cause questioned, Beckham had sniped back about the American's lack of professionalism for using the media to air his grievances but the fans clearly took Donovan's side in the argument and the most famous footballer on the planet found himself booed on home turf on his return to the Galaxy colours.
Four months later, and in keeping with all romantic comedy story arcs, after some bumps in the road along the way, Donovan and Beckham are now officially BFFs as they head into Sunday night's MLS Cup final against Real Salt Lake here in rainy Seattle.
Having had their heads bashed together by Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, a wily old fox of a boss if ever there was one, the pair have got on with playing football rather than bitching about about each other, helping to turn an underachieving side that had the worst record in the league last year into MLS Cup finalists.
On Friday they sat next to one another in a pre-match press conference and it such was their fondness for one another it was a surprise one of them didn't offer up their hand to show off an engagement ring.
“Without him, we're not where we are,” Donovan gushed. “He's been tremendous.”
“He's perfect,” Beckham replied.
“I love you, man,” they said in unison before crying manfully into the other's shoulder. Or maybe I just dreamt that bit.
It being a night game on Sunday, their love-glow will not shine of course. But there was enough power generated between David and Landon on Friday afternoon to run the Qwest Field floodlights well into a penalty shoot-out.
