COMMERCE CITY — She screamed his name as he warmed up. She squealed and trembled with a cluster of star-struck female fans when he looked their way and waved, flashing a grin known in virtually every corner of the globe.
Paola Gonzalez came all the way from northern Mexico to see David Beckham (“Because I love him!”) on Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, and to see him in the flesh put her in a state of bliss.
“He’s the hottest guy in the world,” said Gonzalez, 18. “I like soccer, too, but he’s the principal reason, I’ve got to be honest.”
Next to Gonzalez were Olivia Caflisch of Lone Tree, 11, and her sister Anna, 14. Each brought replica England jerseys emblazoned with Beckham’s No. 7. “I’m really excited to see him,” Olivia said. “He’s my favorite soccer player.”
And he can still play at age 32. He played 63 minutes for England on Wednesday night in Paris but looked fit and focused against the Rapids. Wearing the captain’s armband, Beckham played 90 minutes in his team’s 4-0 loss to Colorado.
Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit blamed his team’s lethargic play on the altitude, compounded by a questionable penalty kick awarded in the 60th minute that gave the Rapids a 2-0 lead, and Beckham agreed.
“Not our best tonight,” Beckham said. “At 1-nil, we still had a chance. First half, we didn’t play our best football, but we were still creating chances. When you get hit by the second goal that sort of deflated the players, it was a struggle from then on.”
If Beckham’s sex appeal attracted many in the sellout, record crowd of 18,713, he stood out on the pitch for his vision, awareness, quick re-actions and sharp touches.
“He’s an amazing physical specimen,” said Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber. “Tim Leiweke (president of AEG, which owns the Galaxy) said he’s in the best shape of any athlete he’s ever seen, and he’s been in (sports) for 20-plus years.”
Beckham had every reason to be fatigued after yet another trans-Atlantic journey, but he didn’t seem to show it.
“It’s always going to be tough when you have international games,” Beckham said. “I felt OK for most of the match. Maybe not at my sharpest.”
Beckham quickly turned the focus to the team he captains.
“We created chances, but didn’t put them away,” Beckham said. “Obviously if we’d scored one or two, it would have been a different game.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
