Every move David Beckham made drew a loud, if not curious, reaction from the sellout crowd at RFK Stadium in the Galaxy's 1-0 loss to D.C. United on Thursday night.
As he got up from his seat at the end of the Galaxy bench some 20 minutes into the match to do some light running, a swell of cheers erupted from the crowd diverting attention from the corner kick United had just given up following the Galaxy's first legitimate chance at goal.
Then, in the second half, literally while Kyle Martino was earning a red card that would leave the Galaxy a man down for the remainder of the match, assistant coach Paul Bravo went to the end of the bench to ask Beckham if he were ready. He stripped off his training top, put on his game shirt, and in the 72nd minute came onto the field for the first time in an MLS game, replacing Quavas Kirk.
He went into two tackles, had one optimistic chip from the back into the midfield, hit one cross from the flank, sent a lovely ball through to the Galaxy's other star, Landon Donovan, that resulted in a questionable penalty kick non-call and he bent one of his famous free kicks into the box from the left flank that Carlos Pavon headed just wide.
Every touch on the field was met with a barrage of camera flashes from the stands. Obviously not fully fit, he gave the approving crowd -- many first-time soccer fans just looking for a glimpse into what all the hype was about -- a respectable effort, whether they understood it or not.
"That puts all the frustration that I've had for the last eight weeks (behind me) since I arrived in the Galaxy and not being able to train with the players, stepping out there and seeing the reaction of the people that obviously aren't even from Los Angeles and support the Galaxy," said a sincere and appreciative Beckham.
"It's a great reaction for me, it's very honoring, but it's also great for me to be on the pitch," he continued. "I'm happy to actually get out there and kick a soccer ball around for 20 minutes. So, congratulations to the fans because it was a great atmosphere out there, 40-odd-thousand fans, and it's been a successful night because we filled another stadium, 40-odd-thousand stadium, and that's what the sport needs."
Beckham injured his left ankle in early June during England's European Championship qualifier with Estonia and further injured the ligaments during one of his final games with his former club, Spanish power Real Madrid.
Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop likely showed where Beckham will fit into the team when fit, playing centrally in the midfield even as LA was a man down, roaming around the field with savvy versus sheer athleticism.
"There was tenderness. There was hesitation because I haven't played for eight weeks," admitted Beckham. "It was the first time I've trained in eight weeks and it was the first time I've gone into to anything competitive. I was happy to be out there and get at least 20 minutes in. There was tenderness and there will be for quite a while because it's not an injury that clears up and is just perfect right away. There is going to be a reaction from it tomorrow but this is a big forward step for me."
The decision was made based on how he felt after training the last couple of days in sweltering Washington, D.C. Even as rain pelted down hard into the stadium on Thursday night, Yallop inserted him after getting a straight answer from the player that he was ready.
"The manager made the decision," said Beckham. "I told him how I felt and he said if you're confident you can get through the game without making it any worse then go and do it. That was sort of decided today. I had to see how the reaction was from training, from crossing the ball yesterday and it was good so it gave me a chance to get out there and enjoy playing."
The rainy conditions were actually favorable and not a deterrent, according to Beckham.
"The thing that concerned me was that they were the biggest rain drops I'd ever seen; much bigger than back home," said a laughing Beckham. "That was more surprising and worrying than anything else. But, no, I think it made it all fun, I saw the majority of the fans were getting all wet and that made it more enjoyable. ... I like it when the ground's wet anyway so it made it better for myself."
Still, less than a month since he's arrived in America and Beckham is already apologizing for something.
"I have to apologize because I didn't know FieldTurf was actually a company," said a smiling Beckham, after criticizing the surface at Wednesday's media gathering. "Funny, I actually have four pitches for my academy that are FieldTurf, so at that level I think it's a great surface."
But in the end, the happiest man within the team might be Donovan.
"Yeah, I can't wait until we get going, because you can see he's good," said a joyous Donovan. "He's a soccer player, so I think we both have soccer games and we see the game the same way, we know how the game should be played, and I think we're going to benefit long-term from that."
Chris Snear is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
