[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.

[BorisBroomhead]

The papers are calling the LA Galaxy rubbish. Can anyone explain how can they spend $200 million on one player & not allow a bit more for a few good players instead of just grabbing guys from down at the local?

[ferocious]

he'll be mayor of LA shortly....

[mack]

Maybe someday Beckham will play more than a few minutes...I guess they can't play a little banged up in this kind of football like they play hurt all the time in the NFL huh?

Galaxy sinks lower in 1-0 loss to New England

The defeat gives L.A. a 3-7-5 record at the halfway point in its MLS season. David Beckham doesn't play again.

By Grahame L. Jones, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 13, 2007

The draining quality of an abysmal Major League Soccer season is taking its toll on the Galaxy. There is beginning to be a bit of a haunted look in the eyes of the players and coaches.

On Sunday, a three-game trip came to an end for Los Angeles with yet another loss, this time a 1-0 setback against the New England Revolution in front of a sellout crowd of 35,402 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

The Galaxy faces told the story.

David Beckham, once again confined to the bench because of his bad left ankle looked frustrated and a little angry. Coach Frank Yallop looked worn to a frazzle. Landon Donovan looked unhappy, even as he shook hands with U.S. national team sidekick Taylor Twellman, who scored the game-winner for the Revolution in the 55th minute.

The loss left the Galaxy with a 3-7-5 record at the halfway point in its MLS season. Los Angeles has earned only 14 points in those 15 games, and unless it starts winning again soon, its playoff prospects appear bleak.

The Galaxy, which went 0-2-1 on its swing through Toronto, Washington and Foxborough, has not scored a goal in 285 minutes and has not won a league game on the road since last August, almost a full year.

This is the season, to borrow the Galaxy's own marketing phrase, when "the stars align," but so far they have aligned only on the sideline.

Missing from the Galaxy's starting lineup Sunday were Beckham, Cobi Jones, Abel Xavier, Kelly Gray and Kyle Martino. All are either starters or key substitutes and all were either injured or suspended.

The makeshift lineup that Yallop was forced to send out was not up to the task. New England, at 10-4-6, leads the Eastern Conference and is one of the top teams in the league for the third consecutive season and for the fifth year out of the last six.

The pressure it applied from the opening whistle eventually broke the Galaxy's resistance.

The lone goal came when a through pass from midfielder Shalrie Joseph was deflected into Twellman's path. Twellman cut the ball around rookie defender Ty Harden and buried his shot in the Los Angeles net.

It was Twellman's 10th goal of the season, and it gave the Revolution the victory its more incisive, fluid and cohesive play had earned. New England outshot the Galaxy, 17-13, and earned seven corner kicks to the Galaxy's six.

Beckham tried to make up for his inability to take part in the game by signing autographs for fans and even gave one young girl his warmup top.

Next up for Los Angeles is a SuperLiga tournament semifinal against D.C. United at the Home Depot Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by a trek back to the East Coast to play the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium on Saturday.

Beckham's status for either match will probably be a game-day decision, but judging by his comments in New England, he probably will fly home to London after the New York game to rejoin the England national team.

Beckham met with England Coach Steve McLaren in Washington after Thursday's 1-0 loss to D.C. United and indicated that he would be called into the England squad even if he did not play in its Aug. 22 friendly against Germany.

"He [McLaren] said he was looking forward to seeing me come over for the Germany game," Beckham said. "It's important for all the players to get together over there, even if I can't play. We'll see how it goes. I have to be fit. I have to play for the Galaxy first."

[penetrator]

Originally Posted by mack

Maybe someday Beckham will play more than a few minutes...I guess they can't play a little banged up in this kind of football like they play hurt all the time in the NFL huh?

Allow him to wear the same amount of body armour they do in the NFL and let the referee stop play everytime the players have run 10 yards and he'd probably be fine to play a whole game.

[mack]

:sp_ike: