The confetti cannons have been put away. The plumes of smoke have dissipated. David Beckham is about to begin his second Major League Soccer season with a lot less hoopla.
Now it's time to see how good Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy can be.
They surely didn't find out last season, when Beckham arrived amid massive hype in mid-July. He was already hobbled by a bum ankle, then injured his knee and played in just five MLS games. He had no goals and two assists.
"It was difficult last season because I came halfway through and wasn't fit," he said. "Touch wood, the ankle's good, the knee's good. I'm definitely prepared physically and mentally, and definitely ready for the upcoming season."
MLS opens its 13th season Saturday, with a new expansion team in San Jose and more international players, especially from Argentina, Colombia and Brazil. Eight of the league's 14 teams will make the playoffs, which culminate with the MLS Cup in Los Angeles on Nov. 23.
In 2009, Seattle will join the league with "The Price is Right" host Drew Carey as a co-owner and Philadelphia will start in 2010.
Toronto will be in the league for a second season, looking to improve on its 6-17-7 record from last year.
Beckham was to make his 100th international appearance for England in Wednesday's exhibition game against France in Paris. Then the 32-year-old midfielder is to rejoin the Galaxy in time for its opener Saturday at Colorado.
"There's nobody who sees a long ball better than him," Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas said. "He's definitely someone who can open up games with one pass, which is pretty amazing."
Beckham was healthy throughout the pre-season, appearing in all six of the Galaxy's exhibition games, with a goal and three assists.
That's good news for MLS fans in Dallas, Toronto, New England, Colorado, Salt Lake City and Kansas City who didn't get to see the English superstar last season because injuries kept him from their cities.
In 2007, the league backloaded the Galaxy's schedule with road games to show off Beckham to America. The extensive travel took a toll on the players and injuries piled up. The Galaxy's 9-14-7 record was third worst in the league.
"When David came here, he didn't know what to expect with the league, his team, his teammates, the fields, the travel," Vagenas said.
"Now that he's gotten it under his belt, you're going to see the real athlete come through. Last year, it was tough because he came in late and there were a lot of adjustments. This year, hopefully, he hits the floor running."
The most gruelling travel is over. The Galaxy and Beckham played exhibition games in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and three Asian cities in an effort to stamp itself as MLS' highest-profile team.
"We spent a lot of time together," he said. "There seems to be a lot more togetherness in the squad this year. We're all getting a lot more confident now."
Beckham is joined by another European star on the Galaxy. Ruud Gullit took over as coach from former Canadian national team manager Frank Yallop, who returned to San Jose for a second stint in charge. Gullit was a star striker on the Dutch team that won the 1988 European championship.
The Galaxy's lone pre-season match against an MLS opponent ended in a 0-0 tie at FC Dallas.
"We're slowly coming together," Gullit said. "The season will be a (work in) progress. We're improving in all areas of the field, but we're still trying to find our right shape."
Gullit expects the veterans — Beckham, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz (acquired from Dallas) — to tutor the youngsters.
"This is one of the first clubs I've been with where I am sort of more of a mentor," Beckham said. "When we've got 19-, 20-year-old kids coming into MLS for the first time and they need questions answered, it's nice to be able to answer them. You want the eagerness, you want the ability that they have to want to learn. They'll get better along the way."
Until that happens, the Big Three will need to carry a team with a young defense and new starting goalkeeper Steve Cronin. But they never played together in six pre-season games because Donovan had knee tendinitis and Ruiz was bothered by a strained hamstring. He had a career-low seven goals last year.
"It would definitely hurt (if one of us goes down)," Donovan said. "In MLS you don't have 15 great world-class players. Each team usually has a few. You hope more often than not we're all on the field, for sure."
Beckham, Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco and New York's Juan Pablo Angel arrived last season as a result of the designated player rule — which allows teams to acquire a player outside the approximate US$2.2-million salary cap — and MLS continues taking steps to improve its overall level of play.
"In 2007, the standard of play in the league took a huge leap forward," deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis said. "It wasn't about David Beckham, although David clearly was a huge story for us and has been a terrific ambassador for our league. It was about the players that accompanied him."
Skilled South Americans are the hottest acquisitions this season, with Eastern Conference power D.C. United landing five players, including designated player Marcelo Gallardo of Argentina, Peruvian goalkeeper Jose Carvallo and Colombian defender Gonzalo Martinez.
Kansas City added Claudio Lopez, who played in two World Cups for Argentina, to fill the gap created when Eddie Johnson left for Fulham of the English Premier League.
Each MLS team was granted one more roster spot to acquire another foreign player this season. A corresponding rule change will allow teams to trade those slots, enabling a club to field an entire roster of non-Americans.
Gazidis said MLS surveys show fans want more international players.
"When we make a statement like signing David Beckham, that sends a message that reverberates around the world: There's no player that's out of reach," he said.
"As we go through expansion, it's also a priority that we make the level of play better every year and there's no other way to do that than to dip into the international pool."
Blanco, the Mexican standout, helped turn around Chicago's season after he arrived last July. Angel's 19 goals for the New York Red Bulls were second best in the league. Taylor Twellman of the New England Revolution was the top American goal scorer with 16, third highest overall.
Boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya bought a share of the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo and they added Argentine forward Franco Caraccio to a team that allowed a league record low 23 goals. The Dynamo beat New England 2-1 to win last year's title.
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