(Adds Beckham/Donovan quotes)
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
CARSON, California, Aug 15 - 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.