KEY POINTS:
LA GALAXY 4
WELLINGTON PHOENIX 1
It was classic Beckham. He drifted in and out of the game but when he was involved, there were moments of magic.
He had a hand in the LA Galaxy's first two goals, scored a penalty, put through sweet passes, harried defenders,
made rash challenges, argued with the ref and pulled his players out of scuffles.
The pace he played at was more American Major League Soccer than English Premier League but there was enough in there to keep the crowd of 31,853 happy, particularly some of the cultured passes he fed from midfield to his strikers. And he played the full 90 minutes.
All that was missing was a Beckham trademark free-kick - and a win for the Wellington Phoenix. But the penalty, hit high into the net in the 76th minute, had to do.
The home side named 11 substitutes and the Galaxy seven for the exhibition match.
But, of the total playing roster of 40, the record crowd had come only to see one man.
They cheered when he came on for the warm-up, they cheered when his name was read out in the team announcement and they went wild when he came out of the tunnel for the game to an explosion of coloured streamers.
There can't have been an atmosphere like it at a football match anywhere in the country in the 25 years since a crowd of more than 31,000 was last recorded when the All Whites played Kuwait in a World Cup qualifier at Mt Smart Stadium in 1981.
Wellington came to the party in every way possible. Even the weather delivered a beautiful sunny day without a breath of wind.
And the fever that began when the LA Galaxy team arrived on Thursday grew markedly in the 24 hours leading up to the game with hundreds of kids and teenagers, plus a few adults, wearing their newly-purchased Phoenix and Galaxy shirts in the capital's streets.
The walk up to the stadium was buzzing as the thousands of spectators made their way to the ground Brazilian-style to the backing of a Samba band and stilt walkers.
Inside the ground, there was more of the Rio Carnival atmosphere, with minimally-dressed dancers and a 30-piece drum band.
The Galaxy players, including their captain Beckham, carried on warming up in the background like it was nothing unusual, which maybe in Los Angeles it isn't.
Beckham worked his way into the game slowly. It was nine minutes before he had his first touch - a neat pass through to Chris Albright on the right wing.
By then the hosts were already one up, Phoenix skipper Ross Aloisi having taken advantage of being left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box to fire the ball into the top of the net.
The Galaxy were back in it in the 16th minute after Beckham put a long ball through to Landon Donovan.
His shot was blocked but Clint Mathis picked up the rebound and slotted home from the edge of the box.
Two minutes later, Beckham and the referee were exchanging words after the Englishman dived in to a tackle giving away a free-kick.
But in the short scuffle that followed, it was the Galaxy captain who played peacemaker.
The Phoenix had a good share of the rest of the half, putting some sharp passing moves together but failing to get close enough to goal to properly trouble the keeper.
Their failure to capitalise cost them when the Galaxy went ahead just before the break.
Beckham again hit a cross-field ball, picking out Chris Klein, who fed striker Edson Buddle.
He couldn't get his shot through and Donovan was there once more to pick up the scraps and make it 2-1 to the Galaxy.
Things got worse for the Phoenix just after the break when a goalmouth scramble left Carlos Pavon unmarked on the back post to bundle the ball home for Galaxy's third goal.
Halfway through the second half, Beckham found himself in the unusual position of striker and as he advanced on goal, the noise from the crowd surged.
For once, his touch let him down and the defence scrambled the ball away for a corner.
It seemed the fairytale finish wasn't to be. But then Pavon was adjudged to have been tripped in the box and up stepped Beckham to score and make it 4-1. Not as good as a 25-yard curler but it'll do.
And for a final flourish there was the streaker, who only made it as far as a corner post before getting the rugby treatment from the security staff.
