Soccer superstar David Beckham landed in a rugby stronghold yesterday but it was hardly enemy territory as hundreds of fans gave him a rapturous welcome in New Zealand's capital.
Beckham and his Los Angeles Galaxy team arrived in Wellington for a friendly game against local side Wellington Phoenix tomorrow, following their 5-3 loss to Sydney on Tuesday night.
They were given a traditional welcome by indigenous Maori performers, in a first for the global celebrity.
"We were honored by the welcome we received today, it's incredible," Beckham told a press conference at the team hotel.
Watching the All Blacks play rugby had already given him respect for the haka war challenge.
"I'd love to stand in front of the All Blacks and see them do it," he said.
The hundreds of fans at the airport, many of them teenage girls, didn't seem too focused on tomorrow's match, calling out: "We love you David".
"I kissed him," one young woman said. "He seemed quite shy, a real cutie. I need a cigarette and a whisky now."
Beckham has been delighted with the adulation of fans in Australia and New Zealand on the short Galaxy tour.
"It's amazing, we have gone through this trip and the love and passion we've been shown by the people has been incredible so far," he said.
Although much of the interest in Beckham is for his status as a style icon and global celebrity, he is hoping soccer will get a boost in a country where rugby is "notoriously big," he said.
"I hope we can change that just for one day and hopefully going forward," Beckham said.
The England international may get his wish with 15,000 school children expected to watch the Galaxy train today.
"To have 15,000 kids and people who want to come and watch us train, I'm not sure I've had that before," he said.
The match is expected to come close to selling out the 34,500-seat Westpac Stadium in Wellington and to break the attendance record for a New Zealand soccer match.
Beckham said he was excited about tomorrow's match, although the home team will include a number of second-string players after playing a regular Australian A League match tonight.
He is hoping to play 90 minutes in the friendly and repeat his trademark Bend it like Beckham goal from a free kick which lit up the Sydney match for 80,000 fans.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS