Beckham makes most of his global influence

"One of the questions to me was, 'Aren't you a bit arrogant coming out to Brazil and trying to teach Brazilians football?' " Beckham said. "Of course, my answer was, 'I'm not here to teach the Brazilian kids football, because I don't need to. I'm here to give them a safe place and a safe environment to enjoy playing soccer.' I think they appreciated that."

Beckham had been to Asia many times before, as a player with Manchester United, with Real Madrid and with England's national team. The response this time, with the Galaxy, was much the same, although perhaps on a smaller scale.

"We had a lot of people come to see the games. We got what we wanted out of the tour, which was to work hard and to get some games and some good training sessions. We had fun as well," Beckham said. "Visiting different countries, that's one of the great things about being a soccer player, because you are taken to different places where you probably wouldn't visit.

"As much as you miss your family and you miss your friends while you're on tour, it's a great time to get bonded together. Being together for three weeks, we bonded really well."

Beckham, who turns 33 in May, looks and feels totally different than he did in 2007, when injuries cut short his debut season with the Galaxy and he played in only five MLS games. Tanned, fully fit and as motivated as ever, he is ready for 2008.

"I've played 90 minutes in most [exhibition] games," he said. "I'm a lot healthier than I was when I first arrived here. Preseason seems to have gone on forever. I can't wait to actually get it started and get that first game underway."

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grahame.jones@latimes.com