Beckham bends 1 in for the Sydney crowd
Updated: 2007-11-28 15:01
SYDNEY, Australia - With David Beckham bent over clutching his ankle, the Galaxy's first exhibition outside North America seemed doomed to go down as a failed marketing exercise.
 Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham, of England, center, scores a goal from a free kick during an exhibition soccer match against Sydney FC at Sydney's Olympic Stadium, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Sydney FC won 5-3. [Agencies]
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When the England midfielder bent a trademark free kick into the goal 18 minutes later and 80,295 people rose to their feet cheering, it suddenly was an unqualified success.
Brand Beckham certainly enhanced its status in Australia, despite the Galaxy's 5-3 loss to Sydney FC in an exhibition at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night.
As second-half scorer Landon Donovan later said, if Beckham had gone off in the 27th minute after a clumsy challenge from Sydney player Brendon Santalab, the Galaxy's offseason tour was as good as over.
According to local reports, Beckham is contracted to play 55 minutes in each match against A League clubs Sydney here and at Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.
"I always try and stay on whether I'm injured or not," Beckham said. "I'm quite a stubborn person. When I want to stay on, there's not many people who can convince me to come off.
"The first time I'd heard about the 55 minutes I was contracted to play was yesterday. I was happy to play the whole game."
Beckham has built his multimillion dollar fortune, together with pop star wife Victoria, the former Posh Spice, on giving the fans what they want whether it be on the field or the red carpet.
"It was an entertaining match for the 80,000 fans. That's what they wanted, to see some goals and to see a bit of an exhibition. They got that," he said.
After fearing a recurrence of the ankle injury he picked up in his last game for Real Madrid that contributed to him missing all but five games in his debut MLS season for Los Angeles, Beckham quickly regained his composure and his touch.
The Galaxy were trailing 3-0 a minute before halftime when was awarded a free kick 24 yards out following a foul on Carlos Pavon. Enter Beckham.
He calmly curled it into the top left corner of the net.
The 32-year-old former England captain raised his arms to celebrate and then swapped high-fives with teammate Kevin Harmse before walking off for halftime, giving Sydney's Brazilian import Juninho a hug on the way to the tunnel.
"In that sort of situation there's always a certain amount of pressure on me to score, because I think people expect you to do it every time there's a free kick given in that position," Beckham said.
"I was really happy to score tonight because of the amount of fans and the attention that there has been on myself and this game tonight, so I was really pleased."
He also was determined to prove he's no pushover.
Robbie Middleby was cautioned for a body check on the Galaxy captain in the 49th minute, but Beckham got even in the 64th. He slid in under Middleby, then got up, flashed a smile and hugged the Sydney player as referee Mark Shield produced a yellow card.
"It's part of the game. You get kicked, but you carry on," Beckham said. "I knew he'd done it on purpose, so I bided my time and gave him a friendly one back. We laughed and joked about it after and it was all in good fun."
Sydney opened the scoring immediately after Beckham's first free kick, from the left, in the 19th minute, with Alex Brosque scoring on the counterattack.
Brosque scored again in the 26th and Ruben Zadkovich fired a right-footed shot from the top of the area past Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon in the 30th.
The Galaxy scored on either side of halftime thanks to Beckham and Edson Buddle, but Middleby restored Sydney's two-goal lead with a shot into an open net in the 54th.
The teams traded goals in the last minutes of regulation.
Iain Fyfe swooped on a fumble by substitute goalkeeper Steve Cronin to make it 5-2 and U.S. team star Donovan beat Sydney goalkeeper Clint Bolton for the final score.
Ruud Gullit said he saw enough in his first match in charge of the Galaxy to expect bigger things next MLS season.
Beckham said Gullit had made a difference.
"He's only coached us for two days, and he's worked us really hard. It's good for us," he said. "He's been one of the best players in the world. He's a manager and a player we can all learn from."
Beckham is scheduled to launch a perfume brand in Sydney on Wednesday and leave with the team for New Zealand on Thursday for the second leg of the tour.
He's been trailed by paparazzi and constantly under the media gaze at a series of celebrity and sponsor events since arriving in his private jet on Sunday.
Beckham mixed with celebrities at a harborside function on Monday night, including an appearance from entertainer Elton John and actor Anthony LaPaglia, who stars in the CBS show "Without a Trace" and is part owner of Sydney FC.
And the match had a heavy marketing angle. The Galaxy reportedly sold 20,000 jerseys in Australia. Sydney, which attracts an average of 15,200 for its A-League matches, played in front of its biggest crowd ever.
Next stop for Galaxy is Westpac Stadium in Wellington, where 28,000 of the 35,000 seats have already been sold for Saturday's match.
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