Beckham-less Galaxy falls prey to Tigres in friendly match

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The Los Angeles Galaxy put on an unimpressive show for new star David Beckham on Tuesday, slumping to a 3-0 defeat to Mexican club Tigres UANL in a friendly football match.

Beckham, whose Galaxy tenure was launched with much fanfare on Friday, looked on from a private box alongside Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas and manager Terry Byrne as Major League Soccer stragglers Los Angeles gave up an 11th-minute goal, then had a man sent off before Tigres scored twice more in the second half.

"We came out real flat, uninspired," said Galaxy coach Frank Yallop, who admitted Beckham's presence as an on-looker - and the close scrutiny he has brought to the entire team - may have unsettled his teammates.

"To me it was very disappointing. We needed a good performance and we didn't get it."

As he watched, Beckham received treatment on his ailing left ankle, which he injured playing in a Euro 2008 qualifier for England then aggravated as he helped Real Madrid to the Spanish league title.

The injury has thrown Beckham's Galaxy debut - planned for Saturday's friendly against English Premiership club Chelsea - in doubt.

"He's had a lot of treatment today. It's a little bit better," Yallop said. "We're hoping he will be OK for Saturday."

Yallop had said Beckham's flight from London to Los Angeles on Thursday had worsened the swelling in the ankle, and Beckham is now due to fly from Los Angeles to Denver to attend the MLS All-Star game against Scottish club Celtic on Thursday.

"We'll talk to David to make sure he's OK to travel," said Yallop, who is no doubt well aware that MLS is counting on such appearances by Beckham to raise the profile of the game in the United States.

Already Beckham's arrival has spurred sales of tickets and jerseys.

The Galaxy played up to the marketing hype on Tuesday, starting the match in their pre-Beckham white strip, then changing at halftime to their new all-blue kit.

The match was the opener of a double-header that also featured Chelsea taking on South Korean side Suwon Bluewings, and started with the 27,000-seat Home Depot Stadium less than a quarter full.

Mexican international Francisco Fonseca opened the scoring, running onto a pass by Walter Gaitan and beating Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon in the 11th minute.

Fonseca nearly doubled the lead with a header just wide of the post as Cannon missed an attempted punch clearance from Antonio Sancho's free-kick in the 25th minute.

The Galaxy's first attempt on goal came a minute later, when Carlos Pavon blasted a long-range effort over the Tigres' bar, and the Galaxy would manage just one more attempt before the interval.

USA international Landon Donovan had a shot blocked in the 55th minute.

But the Galaxy's hopes of getting back in the match were dealt a massive blow in the 64th minute, when midfielder Chris Klein was shown his second yellow card for a tackle on Tigres substitute Guillermo Marino.

Gaitan doubled the score for Tigres in the 72nd minute, and substitute Alejandro Vilalobos made it 3-0 in the 89th minute.

Yallop said the Galaxy can only try to bounce back against Chelsea as they look to improve their fortunes in the second half of the MLS season.

"We're going to have a tough game on Saturday," he said. "If we respond well, it will set us up for a while."