- Title: USA: David Beckham thanks fans and says popularity of soccer in USA will continue
- Date: 20th August 2007
- Summary: EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY, USA (AUGUST 18, 2007) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF GIANTS STADIUM FANS GOING INTO STADIUM BEFORE GAME (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED FAN SAYING: "Sure, the reason why we're here today is to see David Beckham (PAUSE) Absolutely, absolutely. I think a lot of the people that are here today are here because of, because of David Beckham" (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECOND UNIDENTIFIED FAN SAYING: "I think he's phenomenal. He's a marketing phenomenon. He does a great job promoting the sport and I think it'll help United States soccer a great deal. Yeah, my daughter plays soccer on a regular basis and she asked me to get the tickets, they were very difficult to get, we were able to get them anyway and we're here among a bunch of other people so I think it'll be a fun night" (SOUNDBITE) (English) THIRD UNIDENTIFIED FAN SAYING: "I got the jersey man, we're about to take this all the way. Beckham is the best player in the world, so is England the best (soccer) country in the world -- I love England" VARIOUS OF FANS GOING INTO STADIUM
- Embargoed: 4th September 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA7VUVBX6CT1KH1TM2CCVXB9OV6
- Story Text: Fans turn out to see David Beckham play an entire Los Angeles Galaxy game for the first time and afterwards he says popularity of soccer in USA will continue.
David Beckham ended up a loser in his first full Major League Soccer (MLS) match on Saturday (August 18), despite setting up three goals for Los Angeles Galaxy; his team lost 5-4 to the New York Red Bulls.
Beckham played all 90 minutes and helped attract a record crowd of 66,237 for a league match at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the average attendance for Red Bulls games is around 11,500.
Many fans going into the ground said they were there to see Beckham.
Afterwards, Beckham said of the match: "It was very different. I haven't been involved in a game like that since I was nine or 10 years old, where there were so many goals you know, the change of, play changes so much in 90 minutes. But it's great for the fans, great for the people that turned out tonight, you know, you see the stadium, you see the amount of fans that have turned up, I think it's pretty incredible and it's great for the league and great for both the teams to play in an atmosphere like that."
Asked about the huge crowd, Beckham replied: "It makes you feel great, it makes you feel honoured, you know and I do feel honoured to be able to do that and hopefully it continues, because this is what this league needs, it's what this sport needs in America -- the attention and we've had the attention so far in every game that we've played in. So you know, tonight I have to say 'thank you' to all the people that have paid the money and come and see the teams play. You know they witnessed an exciting game and they witnessed a sport that is to me the best sport in the world, so I hope it continues, I think it can continue." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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