Fans Flock to See Becks Sit on Bench

Ankle injury hasn't diminished crowds for Galaxy's star
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2007 2:44 PM CDT
Fans Flock to See Becks Sit on Bench
Nicole Paviglionite, 14, of Branford, Conn., wears David Beckham's jersey number and team colors on her face during the first half of a soccer match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the New England Revolution Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)   (Associated Press)

David Beckham may be sidelined with an ankle injury but that hasn't kept American fans from turning out in droves to watch the British soccer phenom train, sit on the bench, or sub in for a measly 18 minutes for the LA Galaxy as he did in Washington DC last week. That away match was attended by 50,000 fans—a boost from the average 4,000 Beckham's teammates are used to. 

“The attention is much higher here than anywhere I’ve ever been before,” Beckham told the bemused Times, which noted that he's the only Galaxy player who practices in a sleeveless jersey. Even an ersatz Beckham draws crowds: at an Adidas store on Las Vegas boulevard people have been lining up to have their photograph taken with a giant cutout. (More David Beckham stories.)

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