View photosKEY POINTS:
The Australian media haven't been this interested in soccer since the Socceroos' extended run at last year's World Cup. Then again, it's the man, not the sport, getting them all hot under the collar this time.
The Beckham show is in town and everyone's tripping over themselves for
their moment with arguably the world's most famous sportsman/brand.
The usually league-obsessed Daily Telegraph features Golden Balls on the front of its website today under the unashamedly tabloid headline "One Beck of a night"
There's not much sign of soccer in the story, though, as it's a society column piece about the A-list party held in Sydney last night.
Biggest Loser host Ajay Rochester "lived up to the TV show's title", the paper said, "gushing like a groupie and using her son as the excuse to manhandle the main man for an autograph".
In a separate story, My day with David Beckham, reporter Tom Smithies managed to bring things back into proper Aussie perspective - pointing out Sydney's Harbour, not Becks, is the real star.
"A man who has seen, done and endorsed most things in a global lifestyle was rendered speechless for a few moments as his private launch drifted towards and under the Harbour Bridge," Smithies wrote.
The Australian concentrates on Beckham the superstar: "He earns a million dollars a week, his sponsorship deals go in to the tens of millions of dollars and he travels around the world in a private jet."
It spoke to one of his Galaxy teammates, Josh Tudela, who earns about $23,000 a season and says it is a "dream come true" to play alongside the former England captain.
"I've grown up watching him play and it is amazing to now find myself on the same pitch as him," Tudela told the paper.
For 80,000 in Sydney tonight, just being in the stadium will be enough when Galaxy take on Sydney FC, and the Sydney Morning Herald made some attempt to bring sport into it.
It reported on LA Galaxy's training session at which "Beckham's mere mortal teammates seem extra careful to avoid any potentially risky challenges on him".
It said Beckham did take a knock on his ankle and "grimaced" but - phew - was OK. And it noted that Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit expects him to play the full game. Even better, it said, would be if he scores one of his famous freekicks, which he was practising in training yesterday.
Now that would really give them something to gush about.
- NZ HERALD STAFF