Washington – David Beckham had let enough fans down. He was ready to play in his first Major League Soccer game, despite a sore ankle and a downpour that reminded him of home and made him even more eager to take the field.
The English midfielder played the final 21 minutes in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 1-0 loss to D.C. United at soggy RFK Stadium on Thursday night, the biggest debut for a foreign star in a U.S. soccer league since Pele arrived in 1975.
“It’s not nice to disappoint people,” Beckham said. “It’s not nice to disappoint people that paid a lot of money to come and see the game. I was glad to get on the pitch tonight. It was a good night, but it was a bad night, too, because we ended up losing.”
Beckham joined the Galaxy last month but his left ankle, healing from a June injury, had limited him to one exhibition game.
The sellout crowd of 46,686 cheered and flashbulbs popped every time Beckham touched the ball, but he wasn’t able to make much of an impact. Beckham’s task was made more difficult because the Galaxy was playing with 10 men following midfielder Kyle Martino’s ejection for a hard tackle on Fred in the 67th minute.
The former captain of England’s national team did get one free kick, but it was from 40 yards out – too far to “Bend It Like Beckham” and into the goal. He served it into the penalty area, where Carlos Pavon headed the ball over the crossbar.
Afterward, Beckham spoke of perhaps playing an entire half Sunday at New England and an entire game Aug. 18 at New York.
“There was tenderness; there was hesitation,” he said. “I hadn’t played for eight weeks, hadn’t trained for eight weeks. I was happy to get out there and get at least 20 minutes.”
