[zaphodbeeblebrox]

I saw David Beckham's debut with L.A. Galaxy tonight in L.A. He subbed in at the 78th minute. There were cheers each time Beckham touched the ball, the highlight being a corner kick he took in stoppage time. Beckham got off the bench in the 66th minute to warm up. He jogged up and down the sidelines and a roar went up when Beckham tapped an out-of-bounds ball back to the referee, his first kick of the night. He briefly ran off the field with the Galaxy's trainer before returning and peeling off his warmup shirt to reveal his favored long-sleeved jersey on a warm night when the other players wore short sleeves.

Beckham's debut was crazy from the start. When he took his seat on the end of a metal bench, he was quickly surrounded by about 100 photographers pushing and shoving to get a shot. He calmly took in the scene as the scrum furiously snapped away within inches of him before being shoved back by about 10 security guards. Beckham's wife Victoria, wearing her trademark huge black sunglasses, along with actress Katie Holmes and her infant daughter Suri, watched from a private box above the field. Other Hollywood notables at the game included Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eva Longoria, comedian Drew Carey, NBA star Kevin Garnett, movie producer Brian Grazer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and English actors John Hurt and Ray Winstone.

The game was played at the Home Despot stadium located on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills, in Carson. Like USC, you wouldn't want to venture more than a block from campus at night. The game was sold out (capacity is 27,000).

For Chelsea fans, John Terry scored in the 49th minute on a 19-yard shot that ricocheted off the right post and left post before caroming into the net. Chelsea dominated the game, with pressure on the Galaxy goal for most of the game. Chelsea seemed to lay off the Galaxy after Terry, who was hobbled by a broken toe, scored the game-winner. I thought midfielder Michael Essien and striker Salomon Kalou played well for Chelsea. Goalkeeper Petr Cech wasn't really challenged by the aging Galaxy (midfielder Cobi Jones is 37 and defender Abel Xavier is 34, although midfielder Kyle Martino looks promising).

Kalou and Drogba challenge Xavier for control of the ball





Terry being congratulated after he hits the game-winner




Only in L.A. would you see the Simpsons on the sideline


David Beckham spent most of the game in the training room or on the sidelines









I will post more pics in a trip report next week.