MANILA, Philippines - It was a moonless and starless Saturday night but it was all dazzling and bright at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadim as the Los Angeles Galaxy battled the Philippine Azkals.
The final scoreline was Galaxy: 6, Azkals: 1. But that hardly mattered to some 9,000 spectators as they got to see English superstar David Beckham dazzle with nifty moves for a good 75 minutes.
He knocked down a volley at the 20th minute, opening up scoring. Crowd was momentarily quiet but immediately burst into loud cheers.
He displayed his dribbling and passing skills as the Galaxy showed Azkals how to set it from the midfield.
He wiggled free from diminutive but speedy Chieffy Caligdong to launch a cross from the right that was made good by Adam Cristman at the 62nd, stretching the lead to 4-1 for the Galaxy.
He had a few trips on the corner and a couple of free kicks, never consummated but nevertheless drawing shrieks each time.
The 36-year-old Beckham was sent back to bench at the 75th, his immediate move was take off his long-sleeved white Herbalife Galaxy jersey and present it to boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao at the VIP section. Beside Pacman, Jinkee was giggling like a teenage girl.
“I was enjoying myself out there. It’s a great trip out here,” said Beckham.
The global icon himself admitted getting starstruck with the presence of Pacquiao, who arrived to cheers halfway through the first 45 minutes.
“I couldn’t wait to get off the field. I am a huge fan because he’s a talented man, such a good person. I saw him walk in I wanted to meet him, take a picture with him, it’s exciting,” Becks mused.
Cristman, who came in as sub, led scoring with two goals (62nd and 87th). Posting one goal each like Beckham were Irish star Robbie Keane, whose header practically swayed the game to the Galaxy’s favor two minutes into the second half, and Gregg Berhalter who scored on a penalty on the 81st for the final score.
Phil Younghusband, who had the privilege of getting an autographed jersey from his idol Beckham in the post match press conference, delivered the lone goal for Phl, a left foot shot that cut LA’s lead to 2-1 at the 41st.
Coaches of the opposing sides agreed that the Azkals played a solid first 45 minutes but simply disintegrated in the last against a superior, more experienced opponent.
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it was worth it... just came from the match and all i can say is , it was really worth every penny i spent. Seeing David Beckham , Landon , Arena , Kean and the rest of LA Galaxy Team against our very own National team is unbelievable...but it happened.
ReplyDeleteI don't care if the Azkals lost , they were also star strucked by the legendary players in the team , like me they are also a fan of LA Galaxy , these are young kids wanting to learn and experience world class football, we don't have to take it against them. Azkals also deserve the kind of applause and respect that we have given the LA Galaxy team because of their gallantry and courage to fight goliath, and maybe through time they will become the David (*Beckham")that we all expect them to be.
Note : I was just appalled by the comment of the speaker that James Younghusband is our very own David Beckham . Saying that in front of David Beckham is an insult,saying that to audiences that knows football is injury. Add more to it as if he owns the field and does not want to be substituted , or maybe he is just hard headed , selfish spoiled brat.
i want to add more... to page a lost kid (twice)during the game is uncalled for.
ReplyDeleteit's not that i don't want that boy to be found but it was like a department store paging booth. The funny thing is when he announced that they found the boy (Fernandez?), at least in the Dept. Store they just hand over the lost kid with their relatives and that's about it. He was announcing these about the time LA Galaxy made another Goal , if i am not mistaken (i think the 4th Goal).
The girl speaker , gets the fans to cheer or say and do something she wants us to, treating the audience like kindergarten ... come on , this is not a studio nor scripted . people have their preference and choice , this is a game.
...i'm still glad that boy was found. but at 13 years old , i think , he just went for a walk to see the stars...