2 posts tagged “david beckham”

HONG KONG (AFP) - David Beckham's move to Major League Soccer may have been good for his wallet but it has apparently not helped his popularity in Asia.Empty seats and surprising indifference greeted football's greatest star, who was mobbed like a rockstar on his first trip to the region, as he completed an Asian tour with LA Galaxy. Just 11,000 paying fans turned up to watch Galaxy's lethargic performance here, leaving most of Hong Kong Stadium empty, while similar numbers watched the team in Shanghai.Dozens, rather than hundreds, of supporters greeted the former Real Madrid and Manchester United man at Hong Kong airport, while screaming fans at the team hotel were notable by their absence.Beckham, whose England future has also been clouded by the US move, thanked fans for an "incredible" welcome. However, he may have been wondering why so many of them didn't turn up."It's been incredible," he said. "It's been a great tour for us. Everywhere we've gone, people have been amazing to the team and showed us lot of love."Loyal supporters here said Beckham's profile had dipped since his transfer to Galaxy on a reported 250-million-dollar, five-year deal."The fact that you don't get to watch the American league here so much, and the fact he's not playing in the English Premier League or in Spain is a big factor," said fan Chuck Lee."He's handsome, he's attractive," said Esther Chan. "But I think the Galaxy is not so good at football."The sentiment was borne out on the field as Beckham looked in a different class to his team-mates, who were content to feed him the ball and wait for his pin-point crosses.Despite two converted penalties by the Englishman, Galaxy were beaten by South China invitational in a poor advertisement for US football -- and, by extension, for Brand Beckham.However, he said the tour had been important for the team, coached by Ruud Gullit, as it prepares for the upcoming US season."Team spirit can win a game or a championship," Beckham said."In these...

SHANGHAI (AFP) - Football star David Beckham visited young leukaemia patients at a Shanghai hospital on Tuesday, causing a wave of chaos which forced police to seal off several of the hospital's entrances.Hundreds of fans, staff, the media and curious bystanders converged upon the hospital, prompting police to close off access to a wing of Xinhua Hospital, an AFP reporter witnessed. No-one was allowed to enter or leave the wing for several hours.One woman screamed hysterically as angry police refused to allow her inside, and organisers were forced to cancel a donation ceremony scheduled to take place outside the hospital."I want to see a doctor," she said as she tried to fight her way in.Beckham is in Shanghai with his US club, LA Galaxy, for an exhibition match against a Shanghai-Hong Kong team on Wednesday.Police struggled to clear people away from the ward's main entrance, holding up Beckham's car for at least 15 minutes.The Galaxy, who begin their regular season in the US at the end of March, are in Shanghai as part or a three-city Asian tour.The club lost in a penalty shootout to K-League side FC Seoul on Saturday. After their Shanghai match, Beckham and his team will travel to Hong Kong for a game against a South China side on March 9.The former England captain is very popular in Asia, drawing huge crowds when he captained the national side during the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.Source: AFP