David Beckham - The Mission is Over

David Beckham - The Mission is Over

When David Beckham came to play for Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 soccer fans looked up to him as a missionary who would make soccer popular in the United States. Two years later Beckham's "mission" seems to be over. The 33 year old captain of the English national team played for AC Milano during the winter months because the Major Soccer League took a break. He was fascinated by playing for one of the top teams in Europe so much that he wants to stay in Milano for good.

Even though Beckham's era is coming to an end, he has done a lot to improve soccer's image in the United States. He created a mania, not only in Los Angles but across the nation. When Beckham arrived he was on posters and billboards everywhere. His wife, Posh, had her own TV show and David even made it on the cover of Sports Illustrated, a big honor for a soccer star.

Beckham also had a big effect on the number of visitors at Major League Soccer Games. In one of his first matches for Galaxy in New York, 66,000 fans came to see him. Galaxy's home crowd increased by 25%. When the team played in other cities many fans came just to see Beckham. They wanted their money back when they found out that he was injured and wouldn't play.

Soccer has become very popular on TV too. Big sports channels which have ignored the sport in the past are showing games. Americans are even interested in European League games as well.

Beckham has been a great win for sponsors. Galaxy became the first team to put a sponsor's name on their shirts. Manufacturer Adidas is also pleased because the Galaxy jersey became the biggest seller in 2007.

Even though Beckham did so much for the soccer hype, his team LA Galaxy didn't quite do so well. When he came to the USA after playing for Real Madrid for half of the season he only played five games because of an ankle injury. Galaxy finished  in 11th place in the 13-team league.

In 2008 he scored 5 goals in 25 matches but that didn't help Galaxy either. The team finished at the bottom of the league table. The biggest problem was that, apart from Beckham, the team didn't have any other good players. This is not surprising, when you consider David's 5.5 million dollar salary.  Some of his fellow teammates earned as little as 13,000 a season.