AP - Fri, 13 Jul 2007 18:26:24 -0400 (EDT)
By BETH HARRIS
Before David Beckham can make America love soccer, he has to get used to soccer in America. Like what to call it.
It's football to the rest of the world, and the superstar from England kept getting "soccer" stuck in his throat when he was introduced Friday amid confetti and screaming fans as the Los Angeles Galaxy's new $32 million man.
"I've called it football my whole life," Beckham said, smiling. "Calling it soccer is not a problem for me. Well, at the moment it is because I keep getting it mixed up, but at some point I'll get it after a couple of weeks."
And no, Beckham said, he doesn't expect Americans to change their ways; he said he wants to adapt to his new country's lingo.
Beckham will be living in Beverly Hills and working at Home Depot -- Center, that is. The Galaxy's stadium was stuffed with 5,000 fans and hundreds of reporters and photographers intent on recording every gesture and word uttered by him.
Six months of anticipation culminated with Beckham accepting his new number 23 jersey on a stage set up on the field with cannons shooting out blue, gold and white confetti.
"It's nice to see so many fans, and I thank you for that," he told the crowd sweating under a hot sun.
"Now my family have moved to Los Angeles, something we're looking forward to, something we're very proud of, and in our life everything's perfect."
But he still has a job to do.
The Galaxy is paying Beckham $32.5 million over five years to turn the struggling team into a winner and promote soccer in the United States, where it badly trails football -- the American variety -- basketball and baseball in popularity. The Galaxy is next to last in the Western Conference with a 3-5-4 record.
"I think soccer in America has a lot of potential, just maybe something is missing to take it to another level, and I'm hoping I'm going to be part of that," said Beckham, whose playing debut is set for July 21.
"There's been expectations all the way through my career, and at the moment this is a big one. Hopefully, I can handle it in the right way."
The 32-year-old midfielder joins the Major League Soccer team at a time when his career is on the upswing. In January, when he signed with the Galaxy, he had been benched by Real Madrid and was out of favor on the England national team.
In the ensuing months, Becks helped Real Madrid win the Spanish League title and was recalled to the national team, where he has made key contributions and is expected to continue to play between Galaxy games.
"I needed a new challenge after my four years at Real Madrid," he said. "I'm glad I ended that challenge at Madrid with a title. It couldn't have been a better time for me to end it."
Beckham was resplendent in a gray Burberry suit, white shirt, pale gray tie and an accent pocket square. A glittering wide diamond wedding band flashed on his left ring finger. His blond hair was buzz cut and he sported a stubbly beard.
His wife, Victoria, strolled on the field in perilously high stilettos minutes ahead of her husband. Wearing a short blond 'do, huge black sunglasses, a fuchsia cap-sleeved dress and a matching alligator handbag, Posh Spice posed for assembled photographers, jutting her left leg out and resting her left hand on her tiny waist.
The Beckhams' three young sons were out of sight.
Alyssa Bricker, a 15-year-old soccer player in the crowd, said, "I can't wait to see him start playing."
Asked if she thought Beckham was handsome, Bricker said, "Oh, yeah. He's hot."
And his wife?
"She's pretty," Bricker said. "And very lucky."
Beckham assured everyone that he's a regular bloke who prefers doing his own driving and grocery shopping.
"Once I've done this in front of all these thousands of people, I'll go back home and jump in the pool with the kids," he said. "I always do as many normal things as everybody else does."
Like driving himself to work Friday, albeit in a luxury SUV he had just purchased.
"The traffic was great," he said. "It only took us like 50 minutes from the house, which wasn't too bad. Someone said it was going to take an hour and a half."
Once the confetti fell, Beckham posed for endless photos before visiting a series of suites jammed with international and domestic print, radio, television and Spanish-language media.
He quickly dispelled rumors of having Hollywood aspirations.
"People have talked about me going into the movies and going into Hollywood," he said. "That's not what I'm here for. I'm here to just play football, ah, to play soccer. Sorry. That's the only reason I'm here."
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