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CARSON, Calif. — So, has David Beckham's arrival in Los Angeles changed life for the Galaxy of Major League Soccer? Let us count the ways.
Security guards now escort players to and from the locker room and the field. The team now practises on a field surrounded by thick shrubs and opaque green sheeting, the better to shield from prying eyes. And, oh, yes, those prying eyes; reporters with season credentials must also receive a separate credential for each practice.
As for Sunday's highly anticipated game in Toronto, well, Beckham's two Canadian teammates have morphed into walking versions of Ticketmaster.
"You don't even want to know," Galaxy defender Ante Jazic, a member of Canada's national team, said when asked about being contacted for tickets to the match against Toronto FC at BMO Field.
David Beckham salutes the fans after his lone on-field outing this MLS season, 12 minutes against Chelsea. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
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"Friends that I thought I didn't have are calling. It's crazy. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have some family and close friends that are coming up for the game. Obviously, I'm going to take care of them. But it's a tough ticket, to be sure."
Galaxy coach Frank Yallop is taking a wait-and-see approach.
"The chances are probably slim [that Beckham will play on Sunday]," Yallop, a former coach of Canada's national team, said yesterday. "It'd be tough to put him in the lineup with what he's been doing. He may have some part in the game, but we'll see."
Midfielder Kevin Harmes, a Vancouver resident who also plays for the national team, expects a similar barrage of ticket requests when the Galaxy visits the Whitecaps for an exhibition game on Oct. 3.
"[For] the game in Vancouver, there's a lot of requests," Harmes said. "I haven't gotten any requests for Toronto yet, surprisingly. I don't know too many people in Toronto. But I'm sure somebody's going to be calling me very soon."
Avalanches of ticket requests are just one new aspect of life for the Galaxy three weeks into Beckham's tenure, which has been defined early by irony.
Despite being the new face of Major League Soccer, Beckham missed three consecutive games because of an injured left ankle and is still a question mark for Sunday's game.
Since being introduced to the world as the Galaxy's newest player on July 13, Beckham has yet to train with the team. He made a token appearance in a public practice on July 16 and played 12 minutes as a substitute during a 1-0 exhibition loss to Chelsea on July 21.
Beckham turned his left ankle on June 6 while playing for England in qualifying for the European Championship and aggravated the injury on June 17 in his final game for Real Madrid.
As his new teammates train, Beckham engages in rehabilitation that includes cardiovascular work, tissue manipulation and friction massage to break up scar tissue.
"He's very frustrated," Yallop said. "I feel for him, really, because he wants to get going. He can't wait to get on the field with these guys because he wants to prove to them why we brought him over."
Though Beckham receives the kind of security fit for a superstar, the Galaxy's Canadians view him as an anti-superstar.
"Once you get to know David, he's a very humble person," Yallop said. "He's very much for the team, that's all he talks about. I think that's important for these guys, his teammates, to know. He's not all about himself at all."
Harmes is impressed with "just the way he handles himself with anybody," he said. "Whether it's somebody asking for a picture, he's always smiling, he always says hello, he's always saying thank you.
"With how much he's in the spotlight, he lives up to it."
Jazic, a Halifax native, caught a glimpse of that spotlight when he and his teammates went to a welcoming party that Tom Cruise held for Beckham and his wife, Victoria, the night after Beckham's debut. Also attending were Katie Holmes, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.
"All these people are normal, great people that you can sit down and chat with," Jazic said. "When you see him in the locker room, you can't even associate all that jet-set, Hollywood stuff with him.
"He's just a simple guy. He loves his family, he talks all about his family. In the locker room, he's adapted extremely well. He talks to everybody."
Special to the Globe and Mail
