BECKHAM DELIVERS FINE SHOW DESPITE SORE FOOT

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BECKHAM DELIVERS FINE SHOW DESPITE SORE FOOT
Thursday, May 15, 2008

"I enjoyed it,'' said David Beckham, looking for all the world if he actually meant it.

"There's pressure in every game you play. It isn't like 10 or 15 years ago. Now, there's always going to be expectation. Whether it's a friendly match, the MLS or playing for your country. People expect to see something. There were 37,000 people here tonight who expected to see something.

David Beckham smiles at Galaxy teammate Bryan Jordan following a collision Tuesday.

You don't want to let them down. It doesn't work all the time -- I'm sorry about that -- but you try.''

That he did. Try.

And, in spite of a bruised instep, the glam king didn't let anyone down.

If anything, there were undoubtedly more David Beckham fans filing out of Commonwealth Stadium at 9:30 p.m. than made their way in through the turnstiles at six.

No person could hope to live up to the massive wall of hype that has been erected around this man. But David Beckham's personality, his likability, shone through and won the day.

It carries to the top of the most cavernous stadium.

"David,'' said Galaxy manager Ruud Gullit during the post-match media conference, "has in injury to his foot. But he came here to perform. It shows his character. He didn't want to let you down.

"He didn't want to come off. He didn't want to disappoint this crowd. He loves this game. I asked him, 'Don't you want to come off?' He didn't. So we compromised . . . you play a little bit and then you come off.

"The pitch was tough. The team that wants to play football is going to have difficulty.''

When Beckham made his exit after 75 minutes on a cool, overcast evening, applauding the spectators as they returned the tribute in kind (and quickly began streaming to the exits), he hadn't cheated anyone. His team. The crowd. Himself.

In a friendly. In front of people he didn't know, and most likely would never have to impress again in a city he probably will never revisit.

Even if he didn't bend a trademark free kick around the wall from 25 yards, leaving the poor sob of a 'keeper rooted to the spot, the evening had to be considered a success.

"Everybody,'' said Beckham, "likes to play in front of thousands of people.''

His undeniable allure drew 37,104 hard-core football fans and the curious to the park.

Beckham is one of the few athletes capable of drawing a general crowd.

But the Whitecaps ain't Barca, Commonwealth isn't the Bernabeau and, try as they might, Bryan Jordan, Abel Xavier and Josh Wilks aren't Robinho, Fabio Cannavaro or Iker Casillas, respectively.

The uninitiated expecting Beckham to throw thunderbolts or light up like a neon sign in Times Square on New Year's Eve might've been slightly disappointed in the performance, if not the pervading aura.

But this is a facilitator.

A man of moments.

Not someone who seizes a game by the throat and wrings until it capitulates to his will.

On a night the Galaxy dropped a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Whitecaps, Beckham dropped a couple of those trademark crosses -- light and frothy as a soap bubble, moving in the air like fluff from a dandelion in a soft breeze -- onto the heads of teammates, one, to towering frontman Alan Gordon resulting in L.A.'s only goal.