SYDNEY, Australia -- With David Beckham bent over clutching his ankle, the Galaxy's first exhibition outside North America seemed doomed to go down as a failed marketing exercise.
When the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder bent a trademark free kick into goal 18 minutes later and 80,295 people rose to their feet cheering, it suddenly was an unqualified success.
Brand Beckham certainly enhanced its status in Australia, despite the Los Angeles Galaxy's 5-3 loss to Sydney FC in an exhibition at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night.
As second-half scorer Landon Donovan later said, if Beckham had gone off in the 27th minute after a clumsy challenge from Sydney player Brendon Santalab, the Galaxy's offseason tour was as good as over.
According to local reports, Beckham is contracted to play 55 minutes in each match against A League clubs Sydney here and at Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.
"I always try and stay on whether I'm injured or not," Beckham said. "I'm quite a stubborn person. When I want to stay on, there's not many people who can convince me to come off.
"The first time I'd heard about the 55 minutes I was contracted to play was yesterday. I was happy to play the whole game."
Beckham has built his multimillion dollar fortune, together with pop star wife Victoria, the former Posh Spice, on giving the fans what they want whether it be on the field or the red carpet.
"It was an entertaining match for the 80,000 fans. That's what they wanted, to see some goals and to see a bit of an exhibition. They got that," he said.
After fearing a recurrence of the ankle injury he picked up in his last game for Real Madrid that contributed to him missing all but five games in his debut MLS season for Galaxy, Beckham quickly regained his composure and his touch.
The Galaxy were trailing 3-0 a minute before halftime when was awarded a free kick 24 yards out following a foul on Carlos Pavon. Enter Beckham.
He calmly curled it into the top left corner of the net.
The 32-year-old former England captain raised his arms to celebrate and then swapped high-fives with teammate Kevin Harmse before walking off for halftime, giving Sydney's Brazilian import Juninho a hug on the way to the tunnel.
