Banished by Steve McClaren, ignored by Fabio Capello and then ostracised by his club when stalled contract negotiations led to him agreeing to uproot his family to California, Beckham responded as he always has. "Whenever criticism gets thrown at me, I find a way to come back stronger," he said yesterday; informed in January that he would never play for " los meringues" again, he has been integral to their renaissance.

The same applies to England unbeaten in the two matches since his return and providing his standards do not waver, there is no longer any reason why his move to the Los Angeles Galaxy should entail his international ambitions dissolving in a Hollywood sunset.

He is determined to play on. "Without a doubt," he said. "The manager has already made me aware that as long as my fitness is right and I'm playing like I have done over the last few months I can stay in the squad and in the team. I think my fitness will be the same, if not better."

The 32-year-old must have permitted himself a wry chuckle this week when Ramón Calderón spoke fancifully of exploiting a get-out clause in his $250 million (about £127 million) deal with the Galaxy. After all, it was not too long ago that the Real president dismissed Beckham as "an average cinema actor". There will be no volte-face.

"The contract was signed a few months back, there is no clause in the contract saying it can be changed, so it will be my last game on Sunday," Beckham said. "I have played here for four years, I've had an incredible time and I hope it will have the best possible ending in a championship, but this is it."

Barcelona and Seville may have a say in that, though a Real victory in their home game against Mallorca will confirm them as champions regardless of their rivals' results.

His fitness has been suspect since suffering a recurrence of his ankle injury in the 2-2 draw away to Real Zaragoza last Saturday and Beckham yesterday jogged gingerly alongside José Luis San MartÍn, Madrid's recovery expert, at their training ground in Valdebebas. It would take more to threaten his participation against Mallorca, which also represents Roberto Carlos's swansong.

"I'm sad to be leaving and I didn't expect it hindsight is a strange thing and I thought I would finish my career here but everybody knows what happened," Beckham said. "The 1998 World Cup was tough [after his dismissal against Argentina], but this has been the most difficult time in my career. I wasn't involved in training and matches and things were said about me that weren't true."

He leaves with most Madrid fans wanting more. "Some people think I'm going into semi-retirement, others that I can keep playing at the top," Beckham said. "But it's important to go to America and be an ambassador there when I can still perform. In some ways it's painful, because I've had 15 years playing top-flight football for Manchester United and Madrid and the level of football is different in America.

"I've had such an amazing time at two of the biggest clubs in the world. I'm moving on to a new challenge, where I can help to take football to a new level. Maybe I can't change people's opinions, but I can try in the way I play on the pitch. That's the only thing that interests me."