Fresh from its less-than-triumphant tour of Hawaii, the David Beckham Road Show has moved on to South Korea, where the Galaxy plays FC Seoul in Seoul on Friday.
And the lessons learned in Honolulu, where Beckham and Co. defeated Sydney FC, 2-1, at Aloha Stadium on Saturday night to finish third in the first and possibly last Pan-Pacific tournament?
Well, Beckham is in shape. He again lasted the full 90 minutes, just as he had done in a 1-0 loss to tournament champion Gamba Osaka of Japan. He also once again displayed an angry side, yelling and gesticulating furiously when a call didn't go his way. That led to a talking-to from referee Brian Hall.
Beckham is using the Galaxy's five-game preseason tour to show that he is match fit, to prove to England Coach Fabio Capello that he deserves to play in England's March 26 friendly against France in Paris and thus make his 100th appearance for the national team.
But Capello is more likely to have been impressed by Beckham's two pinpoint crosses that led to goals by Ely Allen and Josh Tudela than he is by the fact that the 33-year-old midfielder lasted the entire game or wore a scowl as often as a smile.
"The right foot seems to be working," Beckham said after the match.
-----
The Galaxy starting lineup once again featured a slew of new players, some of whom might still be around when the Major League Soccer season begins March 29.
Coach Ruud Gullit started with Steve Cronin in goal and with a back line of ChrisKlein, Troy Roberts, Greg Vanney and Michael Gavin. In midfield were Beckham, Alvaro, Tudela and Allen, while up front were Bryan Jordan and Edson Buddle.
Of those 11 players, only five were on the roster when the Galaxy lost, 5-3, to Sydney in Australia in November.
One player to catch the eye was goalkeeper Josh Wicks, who replaced Cronin for the second half and seemed well in command of his area. Wicks could establish himself as Cronin's backup, especially with supplemental draft pick Charles Alamo having torn a knee ligament in a reserve game in Hawaii. There is talk, however, that the Galaxy is pursuing Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
Also making his mark, through sheer speed and tenacity, was Jordan, a non-roster invitee from Oregon State, while Alvaro, a Brazilian midfielder who has been playing in Russia, showed better reading of the game than many and combined frequently and to good effect with Beckham.
-----
The two-time defending MLS champion Houston Dynamo chose the wrong moment to implode as it was crushed, 6-1, by Gamba Osaka in the Pan-Pacific title game.
Brazilian forward Bare scored four of the goals, all of which came after Houston had grabbed a 1-0 lead on a Ricardo Clark goal.
Attendance for the championship match was 23,087. That, added to the 15,128 who saw the first doubleheader of the four-game, four-team tournament, means the Pan-Pacific Championship drew 38,215, less than half the 80,000 who saw Beckham in Sydney in November.
If MLS intends to keep the event going, playing next year's edition in Australia or Japan would appear a better option, especially if the Galaxy and Beckham again are involved.
-----
Eduardo da Silva, the Brazilian-born forward who suffered a horrific broken leg Saturday while playing for Arsenal, was operated on Saturday night and said Sunday that he intends to play again.
"My concentration and determination is on making as quick a recovery as possible," the Croatian international striker said on Arsenal's website. "I am determined to overcome this injury."
The break, sustained in a crude tackle by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor, was so gruesome that English television stations declined to show replays. England's tabloid press, not surprisingly, showed photographs in all their grisly detail.
"It was an unfortunate situation, but these things can happen in football," said Eduardo, who opted not to blame Taylor for the injury.
-----
Chelsea's hopes of another trophy were swept aside Sunday when it was beaten, 2-1 in extra time by Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London.
Didier Drogba gave Chelsea, which won the Cup last season, the lead, but a penalty kick goal by Spurs' Dimitar Berbatov tied it up before Jonathan Woodgate scored the winner four minutes into overtime.
"It's always a tremendous satisfaction to win a trophy, but I would say this one has special flavor to it because it was against a team who are supposedly superior to us," said Tottenham's Spanish coach, Juande Ramos.
"It's like when I was at Sevilla and we won against Barcelona or Real Madrid."
grahame.jones@latimes.com
