CHAPTER 1 BECKHAM BAGS A TITLE Ask any American to name a soccer player during the early 2000s and David Beckham was a likely choice The English midfielder was a global superstar And he put Major League Soccer MLS on the map when he joined the LA Galaxy in 2007 The team’s ticket sales surged Suddenly people around the world started to pay attention to soccer in the United States But Beckham didn’t make the Galaxy winners At least not early on He was still an elite player Even in his mid-30s Beckham's amazing passing ability frustrated defenses and created scoring chances for the Galaxy But going into the 2011 season he was nearing the end of his career and had yet to lead the Galaxy to a title The Galaxy held a ceremony to welcome David Beckham to Los Angeles in 2007 4
Landon Donovan left and Beckham formed a deadly one-two punch for the Galaxy 6
COMING CLOSE Some fans had also gotten frustrated with Beckham Upon joining the Galaxy he was still aiming to make England’s team for the 2010 World Cup To improve his chances Beckham chose to play on short-term loan deals with Italian club AC Milan before the 2009 and 2010 MLS seasons However those stretches caused him to miss the beginning of the MLS season And in 2010 Beckham was injured while on loan and missed much of the Galaxy’s season Some fans questioned Beckham’s commitment to the Galaxy and MLS After missing the playoffs in Beckham’s first two seasons the Galaxy posted the best record in the Western Conference in 2009 2010 and 2011 In 2009 they came achingly close to the MLS Cup title Facing Real Salt Lake in the final the match went to a penalty shootout The Galaxy were defeated in the shootout 5 4 GOING ALL IN Things changed in 2011 The Galaxy were the league’s most famous team They had posted the league’s best record in 2010 In Beckham and forward Landon Donovan they had two of the league’s best players Now with Beckham around all season they were ready to take the next step 7
