Hollywood made a movie about David Beckham's ability to curl free kicks that seem to defy the laws of physics. But even a major movie producer couldn't have scripted a better story to Beckham's first start for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Beckham scored one goal on a brilliant free kick and set up a second to lead the Galaxy to a 2-0 victory against D.C. United in the Superliga semifinals Wednesday night at The Home Depot Center.
It's difficult to say that one man can completely change the fortunes of an entire team, but the Galaxy looked like a completely different team than the one that lost to the same United team less than a week ago.
The single differentiating factor between Wednesday's game and last week's league game in Washington was Beckham, according to his coach and teammates.
"We've all been waiting for that free kick. It was good to see him on the field in the jersey and start the game. We feel he's part of us now that he's played," said head coach Frank Yallop after the game. "To get a goal to cap it off, it's a dream start for (Beckham). I'm very excited for him."
Landon Donovan was the recipient of Beckham's assist on the second goal of the night. While there was still plenty of work to be done once he received the pass, it was Beckham's vision and inch-perfect pass that allowed him to slip in behind the United back line and eventually score the game's second goal.
"His ability to see things, he's got a play in mind always before the ball gets to him," said Donovan about Beckham. "He makes good decisions on the ball. You don't see that on TV, but here when he's under pressure and he gets into tight areas he makes the right pass more often than not and gets the ball into dangerous positions. I was really impressed by that."
Beckham controlled the Galaxy attack from a central midfield position, often serving as the starting point for several of the Los Angeles forays into D.C. territory. He also wasn't afraid to mix things up on the defensive side of the ball.
In the early going the Galaxy were being put on the defensive. Eighteen minutes in, Beckham put a crunching tackle on D.C.'s Jaime Moreno that earned him a booking, but also seemed to breathe life into his teammates.
"I felt confident going into tackles. I went into one tackle tonight, which obviously I received a yellow card for," said Beckham. "I need to thank the ref for not giving me a red card."
Galaxy fans should thank referee Alex Prus as well. Less than 10 minutes later the Galaxy were given a free kick from about 24 yards out, and it was the moment that it seemed the entire soccer world was waiting for.
With the ball placed just to the right of center of the goal, Beckham stepped up to do what he does best. With power and precision, Beckham found the back of the net with a curling free kick that sailed over the left side of the wall and inside the left-hand post.
"I'd like to say Kyle (Martino) was a decoy (on the free kick), but I'm guessing not. It was something special," said Donovan. "We all watch it on TV and you're like 'it can't be that good.' When I turned around I went 'Holy Jesus, are you kidding me?' Unbelievable."
The one person who wasn't surprised was Beckham himself. He hadn't practiced a free kick in eight weeks, yet he said he knew before he had even placed the ball on the ground that he was going to score.
"I don't want to sound too confident but I felt I was going to score as soon as I had the ball in my arms," said Beckham. "Sometimes you feel like that, sometimes you don't get any feeling. Tonight I had the feeling that I was going to score. As soon as I hit it I knew that I had kicked it well."
It's unrealistic to expect Beckham to duplicate Wednesday's performance in every game. Still, there is no doubt that the LA Galaxy truly is a different team with Beckham on the field. He proved to be the difference against D.C. United, and was the guiding force that drove Los Angeles into the Superliga final.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
