Fans get their picture taken with LA Galaxy player David Beckham. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
The press room was packed, complete with TV cameras and enough photographers to cover a world war.
Fifa press officer Gordon Glen Watson warned the media that there were to be no personal questions.
He even advised journalists on their line of questioning by using a football proverb:
"Play the ball not the man."
And a moment later David Beckham walked into the room and the flashbulbs went off like fireworks.
Beckham was not alone. He was joined by LA Galaxy teammate Eddie Lewis and coach Bruce Arena as well as Oceania technical director Jim Selby and All Stars players Christian Karembeu and Ivan Vicelich.
But despite Karembeu being in the French side which won the 1998 soccer World Cup, most journalists were only interested in Beckham.
The questions rolled in. "I want to talk about whether David's had a crack at rugby and give yourself a rating if you have."
Laughing, Beckham answered that it was not his sport.
The star was also asked if he would be seeing more of the country.
"Obviously time is restricted if we play the game and then fly out on Sunday but I think when you're about to land, the scenes are amazing," Beckham said.
Beckham was asked if he had picked up souvenirs for the family.
"No, every time I go away, the kids miss me a lot and it's nice to bring them home something from different countries. Last time I was in Wellington, I took them all home the All Blacks kit and they loved that."
Of course there was some talk of football. The former England captain discussed his future with England and their chances at the 2010 World Cup.
"I take each game as it comes. If I carry on to the World Cup, then great, but I'm enjoying the qualifiers at the moment and enjoying the way the team are playing," Beckham said.
Last night ticket prices for Beckham's match tomorrow dropped to half price. Just 14,000 tickets have been sold for the game between his LA Galaxy and the Oceania All Stars at Mt Smart Stadium.
Organisers are now offering two tickets for the price of one because of the low sales.
Lance Vervoort, general manager parks for the Auckland Regional
Council, said organisers expected a large walk-up crowd tomorrow but wanted to make every effort to get a capacity attendance.
