Beckham's goal delights New Zealand crowd

WELLINGTON: It was not bent, it was dead straight, but a goal from the penalty spot by David Beckham sealed an emphatic 4-1 win for the LA Galaxy in a friendly with the Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.   

When Carlos Pavon was brought down in the box in the 76th minute, the former England captain stepped up and calmly struck the ball down the middle as Phoenix goalkeeper Glen moss dived to his right.   

"That's one of the biggest parts of my game, striking the ball, so I was pleased with that," Beckham said. That was enough for the crowd of 32,000 who had turned up to see some magic from the 32-year-old. It is not often that fans start chanting the name of the visiting team's captain as the match kicks off.   

Beckham played the whole 90 minutes in a defensive midfield role, as he did against Sydney FC in Australia on Tuesday night. Despite having a quiet night around the pitch, any hint of a deft touch from the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player was enough to bring roars from the crowd.   

However, it was the home team who were first off the mark, with captain Ross Aloisi knocking in the first goal inside 10 minutes from short range after Galaxy had failed to clear a corner. But the visitors struck back a few minutes later when Clint Mathis found the net after a Landon Donovan shot was blocked by the Phoenix keeper.   

Galaxy then struck either side of halftime, with goals from Donovan and Pavon, before Beckham finished the scoring. Despite the score line it was an even match, Galaxy owing much to a string of quality saves from the two goalkeepers they used, Joe Cannon and Steve Cronin.   

On a sunny and warm evening the near-capacity crowd at Wellington's  Westpac Stadium broke the previous New Zealand record for a soccer match, beating the 31,000 for a World Cup playoff between New Zealand and Kuwait in Auckland in 1981.   

The action started before the 7.15 p.m. kick-off, with four air force jets flying in formation 300 feet (91 metres) above the stadium roof, before a cascade of fireworks and streamers showered across the field.   

'Beckham-mania' well and truly engulfed the capital of the rugby-mad country during the star's two days in Wellington prior to the game.   

Around 15,000 school children and 5,000 adults turning up to watch a Galaxy training session on Friday morning. Beckham said that day he was amazed by the turnout and could not remember training in front of so many spectators.   

The LA Galaxy leave Wellington on Monday to return to the United States. The win for the Galaxy follows a 5-3 loss to Sydney FC in the only other game of their tour of Australia and New Zealand.