THEY ALL CAME TO SEE BECKS: Actress Eva Longoria arrives at the Home Depot Center... -- PHOTOS: AP, AFP

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Finally, the England midfielder and global marketing icon has put in some actual work on a Los Angeles soccer field.

Only 16 minutes and 19 seconds, to be sure, after he came on in the 78th minute, but some work nonetheless.

Given his US$6.5 million-a-year (S$9.9 million) contract with Major League Soccer, it works out to be expensive minutes, but the hype and hoopla of the past few weeks will perhaps subside and the sport itself can take centre stage.

The 32-year-old, his injured left ankle heavily strapped, made his Los Angeles Galaxy debut in a 0-1 loss to Chelsea in front of a sell-out crowd of 27,000 at the Home Depot Center on Saturday.

His pop-singer wife Victoria, wearing her trademark huge black sunglasses, along with actress Katie Holmes and her infant daughter Suri, watched from a private box above the field.

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, like a lot of the spectators,was attending her first soccer game.

Eva Longoria, minus new husband Tony Parker, comedian Drew Carey, National Basketball Association star Kevin Garnett and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also made what were likely their first trips to Carson.

It is a gritty suburb compared to the stars' usual haunt of Beverly Hills.

Chelsea skipper John Terry scored the game's lone goal, steering a shot inside the left post in the 49th minute after the Galaxy defence failed to clear a corner- kick by Frank Lampard.

Afterwards, Terry predicted that Beckham's influence on soccer in America will be huge.

'He's going to take it to another level,' he said. 'All eyes will be on the MLS now.'

Certainly, the amount of time Beckham spent on the field was of less importance than the effect that his presence had on his teammates.

For the first time this season, the Galaxy looked like a team. The players raised their game to match the occasion.

Beckham, too, was impressed by his teammates' resolve against clearly superior opponents.

'When you're playing a team of the quality of Chelsea, and we just lose, 0-1 ... it was a good performance,' he said.

'I haven't trained in weeks. But it was just nice to be out there with the lads and get this game over and done with. I've enjoyed it.'

The fans watched his every move, even while he was on the bench.

When he took his seat on the end of a metal bench, he was quickly surrounded by about 100 photographers, pushing and shoving to get a shot.

On the field, Beckham's contributions were limited because of his injured ankle.

The statistics will record that he did not score, did not create a goal, took no shots, but did manage a corner-kick.

The fans were loud and animated and, they, too, raised the Galaxy's game to a new level.

Galaxy rookie defender Ty Harden said the atmosphere was electric.

'I love the excitement, I love the fans getting into it,' he said.

Fans will soon learn that Beckham's impact is not going to be the number of goals he scores. Even at Real Madrid, he scored only 15 times in 141 matches.

Paul Smith, Chelsea's business affairs director, put it best when warning fans not to expect another Pele or George Best or another Johan Cruyff, all of whom lit up American soccer fields three decades ago.

'David's real strength is being part of that team ethos,' Smith said.

'He's a great passer of the ball, great at free kicks, but he's not going to be the equivalent of Michael Jordan on the soccer field.'

LOS ANGELES TIMES