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Friday February 22, 2008

Beckham’s LA Galaxy lose in pre-season meet

HONOLULU: David Beckham's first pre-season game of 2008 ended in disappointment with his Los Angeles Galaxy side losing 1-0 to Japan's Gamba Osaka in the first Pan-Pacific Championship semi-final on Wednesday.

The English midfielder played the entire game at Aloha Stadium but was unable to prevent his team losing to their J-League opponents. He was involved in an angry exchange with Brazilian Lucas after a heavy collision in the second half.

Brazilian striker Bare scored the winning goal in the third minute, firing a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Steve Cronin.

What luck: LA Galaxy defender David Beckham reacts to a bad call during the game against Gamba Osaka in the Pan-Pacific Championship on Wednesday. – AP
“It is always disappointing when you lose the game but when you don't start off properly that happens. For the first 15 minutes we were terrible,” Beckham told reporters.

“It is nice to be back on the pitch and we are still trying to get our fitness back.”

Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit added: “We thought David might only play 30 minutes because we were concerned about the artificial turf but he felt good out there so we kept him on.”

Los Angeles will face Sydney FC in the third-place playoff on Saturday after the Australian side lost 3-0 to Houston Dynamo in the second semi-final. – Reuters

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