Trailing by a pair of early goals on the road to Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, the LA Galaxy needed something to get them back into the match. They had to look no further than to their captain, David Beckham.
While Salt Lake dictated much of the run of play during the opening 20 minutes in opening up a 2-0 lead, Beckham pulled the momentum to the Galaxy's favor before halftime with two sublime strikes from outside the penalty area. The first was during the run of play when he found the far upper corner, and the second came from a restart 29 yards from goal up the middle of the park.
"It's what great players do," said Galaxy defender Chris Klein of Beckham. "He delivers good balls, and you have to step to him because he can strike a great ball. On the free kick, every knows what he can do there. We're going to need a few of those this year, and he's been known to provide them. I think this is a tip of what he can do, and what everyone has been waiting to see."
Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit also appreciated his captain stepping up and taking the lead in getting his team on track. He was quick to point out the quality of the goals that Beckham produced.
"I think the first goal was the best one," said Gullit. "On the dead ball, you have time. On the first he passed the ball to the far corner. That tells you his quality. Before it was Landon [Donovan], now it's David."
Donovan, who is leading the Galaxy and the league with eight goals this season, gave all the credit to not only Beckham's goals but his attitude to contributing to the turnaround.
"His attitude in those two moments to make the difference," said Donovan. "Obviously, he has the quality to make the difference. Other people can try it, but can't pull it off -- he can. Him saying, 'I'm going to make a difference because we're struggling right now,' then he went and did it -- that was the difference between tying the game and losing."
Gullit couldn't say enough about how his team improved over the course of the match. During the first 20 minutes he felt that his players were giving Salt Lake too much space, and as a result let them get two quick goals. Gullit said that any team will be outplayed if their opponents are given them the space to work.
"If you don't mark and you give space to the opposition, everyone can play a good match," said Gullit. "We were too wide open, too much space between the lines and the players, and it was frustrating to see from the sideline. Finally, finally, they got it."
Another aspect that the Galaxy had to overcome was playing on the artificial turf of Rice-Eccles Stadium. It's a surface that is much faster and far more unforgiving than the natural padding of grass.
"I think that the most difficult part is we tried to practice on turf, but nothing is like this turf, therefore players had difficulty getting into the game," Gullit said. "Salt Lake knows how to play on this pitch. They play every two weeks on it; that's a huge advantage."
Donovan was also quick to voice his displeasure of playing on the surface. He looks forward to when Salt Lake will open their own stadium this fall and change venues to a natural surface.
"As much as you play on [turf], you can never get used to it," said Donovan. "I'm as excited as anyone for October to come and they get a new field.
However, the Galaxy goal scorer actually praised the surface. He pointed to the last time he played at Rice-Eccles when touring with Real Madrid and grass was laid on top of the surface. He preferred playing on the turf rather than the temporarily installed grass.
"I must admit, it was much easier player on that tonight than playing on the grass with Real Madrid, because it was placed over the turf and it was slipping a lot," said Beckham.
"The good thing about the turf is the ball and the way the ball runs -- it's quite easy to control. It played well tonight. It something that we're not used to playing on, but it's the same for both teams."
It's a rarity to find a positive word on the Rice-Eccles field, but one would have to think that scoring a brace would put anyone in a good mood. Beckham admits that stepping up to free kicks like the one he had Saturday are still exciting for him.
"I'm like a little kid every time a free kick is given on the edge of the box," said Beckham. "The excitement comes into myself, and most of the time I can score them. Recently I've had a couple that I've hit the wall with, but tonight I was happy. I was happy with the freekick and I was also happy with the first goal. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. Tonight they did."
Beckham was glad to be the one scoring the goals on the night, but he wants to be sure that it's always a team effort. No matter who is scoring the goals -- that everyone is putting in the effort for the win.
"It was obviously my turn to score the goals tonight instead of Landon," said Beckham. "But, it's important that all the players take a part in scoring goals and winning games -- getting the team back into the game.
"Tonight was my turn, but I'm sure in other games to come it there will be other players to do the same.
Scott McAllister is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
