Beckham to play in Australia

SYDNEY, Australia — David Beckham arrived on a private jet from London on Sunday for his first visit to Australia, while his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates came on a scheduled airline from the United States.

The former England captain apparently wants no other special treatment while Down Under for the Galaxy's exhibition match Tuesday night against Sydney FC before a sellout crowd of 80,000 at the former Olympic stadium.

Sunday newspapers were full of Beckham stories — despite a national election the day before in which John Howard lost the prime ministership to Kevin Rudd. Several focussed on Beckham's shunning of a presidential-style suite at a downtown casino hotel in favor of a basic one that his teammates will get.

The suite goes for about $5,250 a night, the regular room $235.

"We're quite underwhelmed about the fact he'll be staying as one of the team members. He hasn't come through with a list of requests we're used to here," Star City official Richard Munro said. "He doesn't want anything special, which is a real credit to a superstar like him."

Beckham's first appearance in Sydney came at a Sunday media conference with his new coach and former Dutch international Ruud Gullit, Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan and Sydney FC coach John Kosmina.

"I'm very happy to be here. I've never been to this country before and it's somewhere I've wanted to visit for a long time," Beckham said. "It took me 22 hours to get here, but it's more than worth it."

Beckham will remain in Sydney until Thursday before flying to New Zealand for the Galaxy's friendly against the Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.

Beckham arrived from London after England missed out on qualification for Euro 2008. The midfielder came on a second-half substitute in England's 3-2 loss to Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday, Beckham's 99th international.

Beckham is in Australia without his wife of eight years, Victoria, and their three sons — Brooklyn, 8; Romeo; 5 and Cruz, 2. Victoria, formerly Posh Spice in the Spice Girls, is said to be rehearsing with her former pop group for their world reunion tour which begins Dec. 2 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Beckham's visit has spurred sales of his Galaxy jersey — 20,000 have been sold in Australia in the past month.

"We've had requests increasing everyday," Trent Karoll, a sporting goods company managing director, said. "Securing supply ... was tricky."

The Beckham-led Galaxy match is the team's first exhibition outside North America and will be televised internationally.

Kevin Muscat, who played against Beckham in Australia's 3-1 upset win over England in a friendly two years ago, will be one of the TV commentators for Tuesday's match.

"First and foremost, he's a very talented footballer and what's come with it has overshadowed what he's done as a player," said Muscat.

"He'll want to show the public here and in America what he's made of and why there has been so much fuss and why he's paid so much money."