David Beckham has arrived in Hawaii ahead of Los Angeles Galaxy`s participation in the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship and is fully focused on attaining match fitness ahead of the new Major League Soccer season.
The Galaxy are featuring in the two-day tournament alongside fellow MLS side
Houston Dynamo, Gamba Osaka of Japan`s J.League and Sydney FC of Australia`s
A-League at the Aloha Stadium, Oahu.
And former England captain Beckham, who trained with Barclays Premier League
leaders Arsenal last month, is happy to make his first trip to the United
States` 50th state, but is concentrating on his football ahead of the Galaxy`s
opening MLS fixture with Colorado Rapids on March 29.
'We're very happy to be here, and very honoured with the invitation,' said
the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, who signed for the
Galaxy in January 2007.
'Also, this is my first time in Hawaii so I'm looking forward to looking
around and seeing the beaches and seeing everything.
'It's beautiful here. Yet, we're preparing for our season, we're in our
pre-season training, and we're not match fit yet, but this is what we can do (to
prepare) in these matches.'
Ruud Gullit, who took over as Los Angeles coach last November after Frank
Yallop stepped down to lead the MLS expansion San Jose Earthquakes, is also
looking forward to the contests.
'It's a great opportunity to see the island, but for this purpose we are here
to play a tournament,' said Gullit, who will be targeting a play-off place this
term after the Galaxy missed out last season.
'We're looking forward to the games, and the team's preparing reasonably
well. We've had some players with injury problems that need to be resolved, and
we still take these games very seriously, but we have to take care of our
players.'
The Galaxy and Gamba Osaka kick-off the action on Wednesday at 6pm local time
(Thursday, 4am GMT), while the Dynamo and Sydney FC square off in the evening's
second semi-final match at 8.30 pm.
The winners from Wednesday's matches advance to Saturday's tournament
championship at 8.30pm (Sunday, 5.30am GMT). The third-place match will precede
the title game at 6pm.
