Beckham bends one in for the Sydney crowd; Sydney

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Beckham bends one in for the Sydney crowd; Sydney beats Galaxy 5-3

By JOHN PYE, AP Sports Writer

November 27, 2007

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- David Beckham gave a Sydney crowd of 80,295 just what it came to see: some drama and a goal from a trademark, curling free kick.

Having limped around for almost 20 minutes after injuring his left ankle, the former England captain scored the Los Angeles Galaxy's only first-half goal in an exhibition against Sydney FC on Tuesday.

The Galaxy scored two more goals in the second half, but lost 5-3 to Sydney.

Beckham, trailed by paparazzi and constantly under the media gaze at a series of celebrity and sponsor engagements since arriving on Sunday, fulfilled his playing obligations in Sydney.

The Beckham-led Galaxy match is the team's first exhibition outside North America and was televised internationally.

The MLS club's tour in Australia went ahead with the plan that Beckham played a decent part in matches against A-League clubs Sydney and Wellington Phoenix.

Beckham is scheduled to appear at a perfume launch in Sydney on Wednesday before leaving for New Zealand and Saturday's match against the Phoenix.

His first game in Australia could have been over after 27 minutes with the Galaxy behind 2-0, when Beckham lost his footing and was knocked over in a collision with Sydney midfielder Brendon Santalab.

Santalab slipped as he covered Beckham, knocking over the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder and creating a hush over Sydney's Olympic stadium.

Beckham was clutching his left ankle, but got up and continued.

Sydney FC did not take it easy on Beckham in the second half, either. Robbie Middleby was cautioned for a body check on the Galaxy captain in the 49th minute -- but Beckham got even in the 64th.

He slid in under Middleby, then got up, flashed a smile and hugged the Sydney player as referee Mark Shield produced a yellow card.

"It's part of the game -- you get kicked but you carry on," Beckham said.

The match had a heavy marketing angle. The Galaxy reportedly sold 20,000 jerseys in Australia. Sydney, which attracts an average of 15,200 for its domestic A-League matches, sold a record number of seats for a club soccer match in Australia.

The Galaxy's lack of practice showed, and players from both sides misdirected passes that gave the first 20 minutes the look of a practice session.

Beckham's first scoring chance came off a free kick in the 19th minute, juggled by goalkeeper Clint Bolton, right before Sydney scored the first of its three first-half goals.

Striker Alex Brosque scored in the 20th and 26th minutes and Ruben Zadkovich fired a right-foot shot from the top edge of the area past Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon in the 30th.

Beckham lined up a free kick from 24 yards, right before halftime after Ufuk Talay's rough challenge on Carlos Pavon, and bent it over the defensive wall and into the top-left corner of the net.

He raised his arms to celebrate and then swapped high-fives with teammate Kevin Harmse before walking off for halftime, giving Sydney's Brazilian import Juninho a hug on the way to the tunnel.

"It's nice once again to get a free kick -- I practice it enough," Beckham said.

Galaxy cut the margin to 3-2 when Edson Buddle scored in the 49th off a turnover from Sydney, but Middleby restored the two-goal lead with a shot into an open goal 6 minutes later.

The teams traded goals in the last 3 minutes of regulation.

Iain Fyfe swooped on a fumble by substitute goalkeeper Steve Cronin to make it 5-2 and U.S. star Landon Donovan got the final score.

Beckham mixed with celebrities at a harborside function on Monday night, including an appearance from entertainer Elton John and actor Anthony LaPaglia, who stars in the CBS show "Without a Trace" and is a part-owner of Sydney FC.

Next stop is Westpac Stadium in Wellington, where 28,000 of the 35,000 seats have already been sold for Saturday's match.

Gawd, do you think five years ago Harmse could have ever imagined playing in the same league as Becks, let alone high-fiving him as a teammate? Nice side story for a hardworking Canadian. He should be at TFC sometime next year I bet.

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-sorry for the double-post-