Beneath a blazing early morning sun, the Los Angeles Galaxy's brightest star arrived.
David Beckham became an official member of the Galaxy on Friday as the England soccer star and international media icon greeted a fervent Home Depot Center crowd, throngs of paparazzi and scores of media.
By joining the Galaxy and Major League Soccer, Beckham said he would take on an immense challenge but one that he was more than happy to confront.
"I've always looked for challenges in my career and something exciting in my life," Beckham said. "My family has now moved to Los Angeles. It's something we're looking forward to, something we're very proud of and in our life everything's perfect."
An estimated crowd of 5,000 supporters -- mostly season-ticket holders -- greeted Beckham with cheers and chants as dignitaries such as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and AEG President Tim Leiweke each took turns welcoming Beckham to Los Angeles.
Villaraigosa even donned a white Galaxy Beckham jersey and presented the new L.A. superstar with a plaque.
"This is an important day not just for the Galaxy, not just soccer at the professional level but a great day for the future of soccer," Villaraigosa said. "It should be here in the city of Los Angeles, the city of America's hope and promise, where we come from every corner of the Earth."
Beckham was preceded in the presentation by wife Victoria, who took time to pose for the dozens of assembled photographers and waved to the cheering onlookers. The couple arrived in Los Angeles late Thursday with sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz; the Beckhams will take the weekend to settle in to their new Beverly Hills mansion before Beckham reports to work on Monday.
For Beckham, his family and soccer are priorities one and two in his life.
"For me the most important thing in my life is my family. The second thing is the foo... is the soccer," Beckham corrected himself. "I'll get used to that."
Despite the ever-present media glare, Beckham said he was just a normal guy and would relish the chance to live in Southern California with his family for years to come.
"Believe it or not, without all the hype and all the circus that does surround me, I'm a pretty normal person," Beckham said. "I try to live my life as normal as possible. I especially try to make my children's lives as normal as possible. Once I've done this in front of all these thousands of people and once I've done this in front of all the world's press, I'll go back home and jump in the pool with my kids."
If Thursday and Friday were any indication, the media spotlight will be on Beckham as intensely here as it has been throughout his career. When the Beckhams arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, paparazzi were assembled and snapped pictures of a well-dressed couple walking from the terminal to their cars. Friday's presentation was beamed across the world on television and Internet feeds.
Beckham has already had offers to appear on television talk shows but turned them down as he plans on focusing his efforts on his family and the Galaxy.
"I've had that throughout my career, people questioning me doing different things outside of my soccer career," Beckham said. "I've always struck the right balance and I always will do because I've always handled it in the right way. I've always made sure that my soccer is my first priority just behind obviously my family. I've always got the right balance and I will do that here."
Now that he's arrived, the Galaxy's puzzle is seemingly finally complete. The club will hit the field twice next week and four times in the next 14 days for friendlies and SuperLiga. However, Beckham's ankle is still a bit troublesome.
"My ankle, I ran on it for the first time three days ago. It felt slightly unstable still and there's still a little bit of swelling," Beckham said. "Hopefully I'll be training in the middle of next week and be ready for the game."
Beckham will likely make his Galaxy debut against Chelsea on July 21 and will compete in SuperLiga matches against Pachuca (July 24) and Chivas de Guadalajara (July 28) before the club hits the road for three-plus weeks.
Beckham injured his ankle in his final game with Real Madrid, a 3-1 La Liga-clinching victory on June 17. Last week while vacationing in the south of France, Beckham said he cycled some 45 kilometers and felt that with some therapy the ankle should be fine.
In the long term, though, the ankle will likely heal and Beckham will carry forth with the challenge of hoisting MLS into the national spotlight.
"Potentially in the states, soccer could be as big as it is everywhere else around the world," Beckham said. "I'm very proud to be part of that and am going to be part of that for the next five years and maybe a few more years later."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
