Sport - Football

Beckham makes his fans happy

MINNEAPOLIS (U.S.): Thousands of fans went to the Metrodome to see David Beckham do something exciting on Sunday. He gave them what they wanted.

In the seventh minute, Beckham lofted a pass to Edson Buddle from 30 metres out, hitting Buddle in the chest and setting him up for an easy goal.

It was Galaxy’s only goal in a 1-1 regulation time draw. Galaxy went on to beat the United Soccer League’s Minnesota Thunder 4-3 in a penalty shootout.

“Obviously if I can see those balls and play those balls, I know we have the players up front that can score goals,” Beckham said.

Beckham handled the Galaxy’s free, penalty and goal-kicking duties in his 73 minutes in the field, before exiting to a thundering ovation.

Despite the fawning over the England star, Galaxy players don’t mind being pushed out of the spotlight.

“It’s a relief for us,” Landon Donovan said. “We have less of (dealing with reporters) to do, less entertaining to do. It all kind of falls on him. It makes it a little easier on us.”

The game was a final tune-up for Beckham and teammate Landon Donovan, who will both leave to play for their respective national teams next week. Beckham will join England in Austria on Friday, but Donovan may have strained his calf, which could keep him from playing for the United States.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said, “but we’ll see how it is and hopefully I can go.”

The Galaxy was originally scheduled to come to Minnesota on October 10, but the match was rescheduled after Beckham sprained his knee. The Thunder changed the business model for the event in an effort to be more family friendly, lowering ticket prices and moving the start time up to 5:30 p.m. local time.

The Thunder also donated more than 2,000 tickets to youth charities around the state. It hoped to set a new attendance record for Minnesota soccer, but the announced attendance of 20,123 came up well short of the 46,164 people that showed up to see Pele play with the New York Cosmos in 1976.

Still, it was more people than the Thunder had ever played in front of in James Griffith stadium — its usual home — which holds around 6,000 people.

“There’s not too many times in your life that you get to step on the field with a world class player,” Thunder defenseman Kevin Friedland said. “Plus, him coming here brought 20,000 people here, and I think any publicity for soccer is good publicity.” — AP

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