Beckham Back, Shrugging Off Boos
No signs of lingering feud with star teammate
L.A. Galaxy stars David Beckham (l.) and Landon Donovan appear to have put their differences aside.
Soccer superstar David Beckham put aside a simmering feud with a teammate and scattered boos in a quiet return to the L.A. Galaxy.
Beckham's team beat the hapless New York Red Bulls, 3-1, mainly on the legs of Landon Donovan, who has been on icy terms with the better-known and better paid Beckham. Donovan scored one goal and set up another in the Thursday night game in Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
Beckham was booed in his first Galaxy game since last October.
"It's great to be back, personally," Beckham told the Los Angeles Times. "It's great to be back in a team that is confident, as we showed tonight, and has got this quality.
"I'm more than happy to be back here playing, especially when we play like this tonight. I enjoyed it a lot."
Donovan, who attended the ESPYs in Los Angeles on Wednesday night and took a red-eye flight, arriving Thursday morning, made it 2-0 with an equally powerful volley in the 31st minute.
"I'm at a place now where it doesn't matter when I arrive," Donovan said. "I know how I'm going to perform."
When he first played for the Galaxy at Giants Stadium in 2007, a crowd of 66,237 showed up at the Meadowlands. Last year, that number dropped to 46,754. This time, there were only 23,238 in the stands.
Beckham laughed off the boos.
"It's sometimes nice to get the boos," he said. "It gives you some inspiration. When we play like we did and win like we did, the boos start to go away after a while."
There were no signs of carryover from the tifff between the two stars that started a week ago when excerpts from an upcoming book quoted Donovan as questioning Beckham's commitment to the team and saying he should be benched. The two even exchanged hugs after one of the Galaxy goals.
Beckham is the highest-paid soccer player in the league and makes a reported $50 million a year, including his endorsements.
Posted Friday, Jul 17, 2009 - 7:08 AM EST
