Beckham Inspires Galaxy Victory in First Start

David Beckham treated Los Angeles Galaxy fans to a master class in his first start for the club on Wednesday.

David Beckham treated Los Angeles Galaxy fans to a master class in his first start for the club on Wednesday, scoring a goal and creating another after leading the team out as captain.

The 32-year-old, hampered by an injured left ankle for the last two months, left the pitch in the 63rd minute after inspiring the Galaxy to a 2-0 win over D.C. United in a SuperLiga semi-final.

Wearing his number 23 shirt, Beckham opened the scoring with a superb free kick in the 27th minute to spark wild cheering from a crowd of 17,223 at the Home Depot Center.

The former England captain curved one of his trademark strikes into the top left corner of the net from 25 metres, leaving goalkeeper Troy Perkins stranded.

"I felt I was going to score as soon I got the ball in my hands," Beckham told reporters, adding that he had not practised a single free kick since joining the team last month.

"It's the first free kick I've taken for eight weeks so that was quite pleasing. I was quite happy with that one."

U.S. international Landon Donovan, Galaxy's usual captain who was honoured to hand over the armband to Beckham for the match, described the free kick as something special.

"I was so excited," he said. "We've all watched him on television and think it can't be that good. When I turned round, I thought: 'Holy Jesus, are you kidding me?' It was unbelievable."

EARLY IMPACT

Despite having played only 37 minutes in two fleeting appearances for the Galaxy since his signing, Beckham came back out for the second half and made an early impact.

In the 47th minute, he threaded a precise through ball for fellow midfielder Donovan who shrugged off two defenders before driving the ball low past Perkins into the right side of the net.

Beckham, who was yellow-carded in the 18th minute for a mistimed tackle on D.C. captain and forward Jaime Moreno, produced one more moment of magic before he left the pitch.

In the 58th minute, he took his second free kick of the match but his bending effort was brilliantly saved by Perkins diving to his right.

After being replaced in the 63rd minute, Beckham was cheered loudly as he made his way to the Galaxy bench where he immediately had his problem ankle iced and strapped.

"I didn't expect to last an hour but it felt great after 10 minutes into the game," he said.

"My confidence got up with my ankle and I was happy to be out there for 60 minutes. Overall, the ankle was a lot better than I thought it was going to be and I felt confident going into tackles."

Signed from Real Madrid on a $32.5 million five-year deal, Beckham had spent most of his first three weeks in Los Angeles receiving ice treatment and massage in the treatment room or working in the gym.

He twisted his ankle playing for his country against Estonia in a Euro 2008 qualifying match in June and aggravated it in his final appearance for Real 11 days later when his former team clinched the Spanish league title.