VANCOUVER, Canada – It was an up-and-down performance for David Beckham on Wednesday as the midfielder started slowly – along with the rest of the LA Galaxy – but finished strong in the club’s 2-2 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
It was a hostile welcome to Vancouver by the Whitecaps faithful, who chanted “Olympic Reject” whenever the midfielder touched the ball. The night started slowly for Beckham, who was dispossessed on the Whitecaps first goal, allowing Gerson Koffie to put Vancouver up a goal early. But Beckham would redeem himself in the 81st minute when he kick-started the Galaxy's rally with LA's first goal of the night. With the goal, Beckham has now registered four goals and two assists in his last three games.
Below are Beckham’s thoughts from the draw at BC Place:
(On the match…)
BECKHAM: “I think two months ago we wouldn't have been able to come back from a two-goal deficit. But we've got character over the last couple of months and back into our team. They obviously had a lot of play in the first half and they played well, but we were able to capitalize on the hard work that we put in towards the end of the game.”
(On the atmosphere at BC Place…)
BECKHAM: “It was a good atmosphere, it's a good crowd and it's nice to see the number of people who turned out. It's great to have a hostile crowd; it's the way it should be in the game. It brings excitement and brings passion and gets both teams up, so we want more of that.”
(On the addition of Robson and Miller to Whitecaps FC…)
BECKHAM: “It's always good for the league and good for different teams when European players come over and play here because they've got a lot of experience and played at a high level so it's good to see. It can only be great for the game in this country.”
(On Villarreal’s goal…)
BECKHAM: “Great goal. He's been doing in week in and week out in training. He works hard in training, he's a young kid and he likes to learn and he listens to the older players. Tonight was a good game for him.”
(On friction with Barry Robson…)
BECKHAM: “Obviously we're both passionate about the game and both passionate about winning. He's Scottish, I'm English, so there's always a little bit of bite there. We went at it a little bit and we spoke after and it's all fine, but we both want to win the game so it's nice to have that in a game because it shows people care.”
(On playing better at home…)
BECKHAM: “I think we played a lot better when we were at home. That was the difference tonight. Obviously they played well, but at home we played our best 45 minutes of the season at that point. We didn't play as well tonight, but not taking anything away from Vancouver they played well.”
(On spoiling the ‘Caps lead…)
BECKHAM: “I much prefer to play a winning role but it's always nice to get a goal. I've scored a couple in the last few games. It's been enjoyable and I hope it continues.”
