They came out in droves, soccer fans and non-soccer fans alike, packing Giants Stadium to watch one very special, very famous soccer player. And every time David Beckham touched the ball, whether it was for a free kick or a corner kick, thousands of flashbulbs lit up stadium.
The fans didn't witness Beckham bend one of his famous free kicks into the net, like he did against D.C. United in a SuperLiga semifinal Wednesday night. But they did see him play the entire match, an unexpected thrill made possible when defender Ante Jazic left the match with a right ankle sprain on 17 minutes.
"He's obviously sore now, but he got through it and he was a huge influence on our side of things offensively with his play and with his great ability," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said. "Once David gets fully healthy and Landon get really working together, I think you're really going to see good stuff from both those guys."
On the David Beckham road show that is the second half of the Los Angeles Galaxy season, this was a stop the England international had circled on his calendar.
"This was a fixture that I was looking forward to playing in when I came over," Beckham said. "I was hoping that I would be healthy enough to play in it, which was in question the past few weeks. But I've enjoyed playing here, it's a great city, one that I love coming to."
At a press conference at a midtown Manhattan hotel in advance of the game Friday, Beckham said one thing he loved about the Big Apple is that New Yorkers are never shy about speaking their mind.
And while most in the crowd of 66,237 were there to see Beckham, the newly anointed Galaxy captain did hear a chorus boos every time he stepped to take a free kick or a corner kick -- although it wasn't quite as mean-spirited as it was when he played against Manchester City for years.
"It's not strange," he said. "I've been booed at many away grounds and I've had worse that that so I was quite happy with that at the end," Beckham said. "It's part and parcel of playing at away grounds and it adds to the atmosphere. It's all in good fun, I clapped the crowd that booed me at the end and they put their arms up and clapped me back."
In his first full MLS game, Beckham showed his brilliance even though his left ankle is still not 100 percent. Two minutes after Juan Pablo Angel put the Red Bulls in front, the Galaxy midfielder helped level the match, setting up Carlos Pavon for the first of his two goals in a two-minute span.
The first was on a corner kick and the second was a perfectly floated cross from 33 yards out.
"Every ball he touched was a piece of magic and he has the ability to change the course of the game with one of his balls," Angel said of Beckham.
Beckham also showed a mean streak when he got up and screamed at Dave van den Bergh after being fouled on a slide tackle on 10 minutes. He limped momentarily after the harsh challenge, but he stayed in the game and played the entire 90 minutes for the first time in a Galaxy uniform.
"The manager and the coaching staff kept asking me if I wanted to come off, but I'm quite a stubborn person on and off the field," Beckham said. "When we were winning, I didn't want to come off and when we were losing, I didn't want to come off. I think my stubbornness took over and I didn't want to come off the pitch."
Beckham also contributed to the late equalizer for the Galaxy, when his corner kick was headed off the post by Kyle Veris and knocked into the net by Edson Buddle in the 82nd minute.
But any hopes of securing a road point were dashed two minutes from full time when Angel scored the winner for the Red Bulls.
Next up for Beckham is a flight to London on Sunday morning where he will begin to prepare to play Germany in a Wednesday friendly at Wembley Stadium. From there, he'll jump back on a plane and fly back to Los Angeles, where he'll hope to step on the field for the Galaxy in their SuperClasico showdown Thursday night with Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center.
"Only time will tell, I have to see how it is tomorrow," Beckham said of his infamous left ankle. "I'm traveling tomorrow morning to London to meet up with the team and I'd like to play some part in the game Wednesday and then flying back, hopefully get some rest and play some part in the Chivas game."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
