Beckham to play in the US

Quote:

---

Beckham agrees to LA Galaxy move
David Beckham will leave Real Madrid and join Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old former England captain will sign a five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m.

Beckham said: "This week Real asked me to make a decision regarding their offer to extend my contract.

"After considering several options to stay in Madrid or join other major British and European teams, I have decided to join LA Galaxy."

In a statement, Beckham continued: "I would like to thank the supporters and people of Madrid who have made my family and I feel so welcome in my time here, making this an extremely difficult decision to make.

"I have enjoyed my time in Spain enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me the opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans.

"I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world's most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own.

"For the rest of this season I will continue to give 100% to my coach, team-mates and fans as I believe manager Fabio Capello will bring this club and its supporters the success they truly deserve."

Beckham left Manchester United in July 2003 to sign for Real, who paid £25m for the midfielder's services.

However, in the three-and-a-half seasons since his arrival, the Spanish giants have failed to win any major trophies.

This season has proved particularly disappointing for Beckham, who was dropped by England coach Steve McClaren and then fell out of favour with Real boss Capello.

LA Galaxy admitted their interest in signing Beckham in November, when general manager Alexi Lalas told the BBC Sport website of his admiration for the former England captain.

In an exclusive interview, Lalas said: "The Los Angeles Galaxy are looked upon as the jewel of Major League Soccer.

"We play in the best stadium we have had incredible success over the history of the league, we have had great individual players and great teams. There's a tradition of excellence.

"All of this leads to this race to become the first MLS super club, if you will.

"It is something we aspire to and in order to do that you have to have quality players, a direction and a passion, a good coach and you have to get credibility domestically and internationally.

"Signing players of Beckham's stature would be a wonderful step in the right direction not just for the Galaxy but for soccer in America."

Landon Donovan, Galaxy's star player, said Beckham's arrival would be a huge boost to MLS.

"I think it's hard to quantify what David Beckham being here would mean," he said.

"Marketing-wise it's a dream come true and it's not a 35, 36-year-old washed-up guy.

"It's a guy who can still play and a guy who still has a lot of appeal, probably the most famous soccer player in the world."

---

BBC Sport

I know the Beckhams have wanted to become households names in the US for some time now. Professional soccer still isn't as popular over here as basketball, hockey, baseball and football are. Maybe David will make it more popular.

This does sound more like a decision that looks to their careers once his playing days are over than a football career decision to me.
He's only 31 and I believe could have performed to his high standards at any club in Europe for the full five years that this US contract is set to last.
The standard of player he will be up against in the US is just not the same as it would have been in Europe.
The same would be true for the likes of basketball and American football in Europe compared to the US.
I think he's incredibly talented and hope he will concentrate on football, not showbiz ops for Victoria.

I definitely think that this is very much about their future beyond his fame for playing soccer fluff. The amount of money he'll be making is as much for actually playing as it is for commercial services like advertising the league. It'll be interesting how this plays out. I've heard rumours to this extent for the longest time and I'm not too surprised this is when it happened.

From Beckham:

Quote:

---

"I want to take soccer in the US to another level. I think it can go higher in America than anyone can believe."

He added: "There are so many kids playing American Football and basketball in the US.

"Soccer is huge all around the world except in America and that's where I want to make a difference with the kids."

---

Link

We'll see.

im a HUGE becks fan and cant wait to see him play for the galaxy

I thought this was a good move for the Galaxy. It's always been a little strange to me that soccer is so popular everywhere else but the U.S. I hope this drums up a little national interest because my Houston Dynamo needs supporters :)

We shall see what we shall see .. there've been other brilliant soccer players who've in the space of a few years apparently vanished .. still, there's always Disneyland and Universal Studios Theme Parks ..

In Britain his US move is getting lots of publicity. Any thoughts from the US as he is about to play in his first match?

He may not be playing in the first match afterall. He's got a injured ankle. What I'm thinking is they may have him "play" a few minutes of the game just for the spectacle of it all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Belfastgirl;2484793;

In Britain his US move is getting lots of publicity. Any thoughts from the US as he is about to play in his first match?

---

There hasn't been much media coverage of him since his arrival. I read that his wife's show flopped in the ratings. If the game is today, I haven't seen many ads for it. Most of the sports news concerns the upcoming NFL season (mainly Michael Vick) or Major League Baseball. I don't even know what channel the game will be on. Not that I'd watch. I've watched soccer before but I prefer higher scoring games, especially for 90 minutes of play. jmo