I ALWAYS knew that this day would come.

I always believed that the truth would eventually emerge. David Beckham, footballing hero and underwear model extraordinaire and me, barely literate hack and sometime computer game nerd, have something in common.

It's not talent, it's certainly not looks and, as much I wish it was, it's not money.

We both suffer from a chronic inflammation of the bronchi. We are both asthmatics.

Asthma, for those of you lucky enough to have avoided it, is a particularly upsetting medical problem that can range from a frustrating irritation to a deadly menace.

Different people have different triggers, usually damp, dust or smoke, but some people can even find themselves affected by simple physical exertion.

When an asthma attack strikes, the airways constrict, leaving the victim wheezing like an old vacuum cleaner.

After 20 or 30 minutes, it feels like you have a very fat man sitting on your chest, refusing to budge. If it goes on much longer than that, gasping death is a very real possibility.

I've suffered from asthma since I was 10 years old, though the condition has lessened markedly since I entered the second half of my 20s and even more so since I finally ended my foolish and destructive love affair with cigarettes.

Even so, I still carry an inhaler around in my coat pocket wherever I go.

Asthma is particularly prevalent in built-up metropolitan areas like London and Singapore, but with sensible and diligent medication, it shouldn't stop people from living a normal life.

Those pictures of Beckham sucking on his inhaler shocked the world, but we really shouldn't be so surprised that an athlete can continue to perform with such a condition.

After all, research from the 1996 Olympics showed that 15 per cent of the competitors suffered from asthma to some degree.

As well as Beckham, us serial wheezers can count Marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, basketball's Dennis Rodman and Olympic swimming champion Rebecca Adlington among our numbers.

We might not be able to go out in the rain without a coat, or work in a smoky bar, but my word, we can win a sporting event when we put our minds to it.

Beckham, or at least the public cult of Beckham, has taught us much over the years. In 1998, he discovered the perils of hasty retaliation, but then with patience and professionalism he turned public opinion on its head.

In three years he went from having effigies of himself burned in the streets to being the subject of obsequious prayer-mats given away in tabloid newspapers.

The lessons of his famous after-practice practice sessions are handed down to young players the world over.

We all know that Beckham lacks the innate talent of a Kaka or a Messi. We all know that he worked tirelessly to put himself where he is today.

And now, with one drag on a plastic container full of chemicals, it seems that Beckham has taught us something else: Life is too short for petty inconveniences like over-sensitive bronchi.

We don't have to let anything get in the way of our hopes and dreams.

If you're one of the tens of thousands of Singaporeans to have been diagnosed with asthma then those pictures of Beckham should be serious food for thought.

Scholes and Lampard have asthma, too

FOUR years ago, David Beckham's former Manchester United and England team-mate Paul Scholes and marathon runner Paula Radcliffe were featured in an Asthma UK campaign to encourage children to get the most out of exercise.

Scholes, diagnosed with the condition at the age of 21, has helped raise thousands of pounds for the National Asthma Campaign during his career.

Scholes makes regular use of an inhaler and is now never troubled by the condition.

'My asthma is well controlled so it has never affected my performance,' commented Scholes.

'I always warm up before a game. I also take my medication before a match and again at half-time if necessary.'

Warming up, stretching or slow running also helps. Radcliffe's warm-up sessions last about 45 minutes and she always undertakes a gentle 15-minute jog before a race.

She said: 'I don't really think asthma has affected my career - if anything it's made me more determined to be successful and reach my maximum potential.'

Other athletes to have suffered from the condition include swimmer Mark Spitz, who scooped seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Chelsea's Frank Lampard, swimmer Rebecca Adlington, former Olympic swimmer Karen Pickering and cricketers Ian Botham and Darren Gough.

Also on that list are Austin Healy, the former England rugby international; Sebastian Coe, former 1500m Olympic gold-medallist; and former NBA star Dennis Rodman.

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Allardyce may return by Monday

BLACKBURN hope to have Sam Allardyce back at work on Monday, assistant manager Neil McDonald has confirmed.

Allardyce missed the 2-0 win at former club Bolton on Sunday and also the trip to Fulham in the Premier League.

Tests have revealed that the 55-year-old, who complained of chest pains in recent weeks, requires an angioplasty, a procedure which involves inserting a stent to widen a narrowed coronary artery.

The operation is scheduled for Friday and means Allardyce will also be absent from Rovers' clash with Stoke at Ewood Park on Saturday, but McDonald is hopeful that he will be fit to return ahead of the Carling Cup quarter-final against Chelsea.

'The procedure is on Friday and they are saying if everything goes according to plan then (he will be back) in the next couple of days,' McDonald said.

'We are hoping he will be back for the Monday before the Chelsea game.

'He is a strong man. He does everything as he has to and if this week goes according to plan with another result against Fulham, it will take all the stress out and he will come back quickly.

'When you are talking about the heart and an operation it's always a concern but I think he has been reassured that it is routine.'

McDonald has been in close contact with Allardyce and said the win over Bolton - Blackburn's first away league victory this season - had lifted his spirits.

'I'm in touch with him on a regular basis and he's very happy with Sunday's performance and result, and I'm sure he'll be looking for exactly the same on Wednesday,' said McDonald.

'I could tell in his voice that he was happy. He didn't watch the game from the start but he did afterwards and he really enjoyed it.

'He thought it was a little bit scrappy in the first half, but he thought we played well second half and thoroughly deserved the victory. That put a big smile on his face because it was against his ex-team.'

McDonald insists Allardyce was never in any danger of underestimating the levels of stress in his job.

'In pre-season he was in London getting himself checked out,' McDonald added. 'He knows what the stresses and strains are and he looks after his body accordingly.

'That is why he has picked up on what has happened now, and done so early. If he didn't look after himself, the consequences might have been worse.'

PA Sport