When David Beckham arrived in Los Angeles around this time two years ago, his arrival was greeted with a large fanfare. The England international was offered cheers and confetti in his grand unveiling for LA Galaxy which possessed all the razzmatazz that only Tinseltown could pull off.
He was polite, smiled, looked directly at the camera, waved to the fans who were going crazy at his arrival and said the right things. "Potentially, soccer in the States can be as big as anywhere in the world,” he told the fans that flocked to the Home Depot Center stadium to herald his arrival. "I want to be part of that and to help do that over the next five years and maybe more. It's great to see so many fans here and I'd like to thank them for that."
Twenty-four months later his words came back to haunt him when he stepped back out onto the field and faced those fans who had previously been greeted him with adulation. Instead of cheers, they reserved a chorus of boos and a barrage of abuse for the England international.
Beckham incurred the wrath of the Galaxy faithful after he missed the first half of the MLS season due to an extended loan spell at AC Milan, following a recommendation by national team manager Fabio Capello that he plied his trade in Europe ahead of the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.
During last Sunday's pre-season friendly ironically against AC Milan, Beckham was subjected to a series of chants, booing and banners questioning his loyalty to the Galaxy following his stint at the San Siro. "At the end of the day, I play my game, whether I get booed or not doesn't matter to me," he said after the game. However, Beckham lost his cool when approached some of the fans hurling abuse at him at half time and appeared to be singling out one and acting in an aggressive manner. "I don't like my family seeing that and hearing that (abuse), from an organised group of fans," he later admitted. "I think it was disrespectful, some of the things that were being said and also some of the banners, but it is what it is."
His family were too busy being fawned over by the likes of David Walliams and creeping to Tom Cruise in a corporate box to pay much attention to the abuse he was receiving. As for disrespectful, what would he call the failure to honour his contract in order to further his international ambitions with a loan spell in Italy? Is it any wonder that Beckham’s return to LA was greeted with more venom that the arrival of Perez Hilton at a Black Eyed Peas concert?
The Galaxy fans who made their feelings known to Beckham should be commended for showing some backbone – a rarity in MLS football, or ‘soccer’ as it is more commonly known to the Yanks. Through their actions, the player himself learned that the entire world and his wife does not bow down to kiss the feet of Brand Beckham and turn a blind eye to his broken promises. He said he was going to try and make the game big in the States but instead chose to jump on the first plane to Europe to boost his chance of keeping his place in the England squad.
It appears that the Land of the Free isn’t so gullible and superficial as was once first thought.
