Latino community's response to Beckham crucial

	One big key to David Beckham's success in Los Angeles is how he's received by the Latino community. Bob Martin/SI
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CARSON, Calif. -- As he begins his New World Adventure in U.S. soccer, David Beckham can't help but smile when the childhood memories of his first American sojourn come tumbling back into his consciousness. But here's an unexpected twist: Beckham's initial taste of the U.S. had a distinctly Mexican-American flavor.

As a youngster with his county team from Essex, Beckham flew to Texas and competed in the Dallas Cup, one of the world's top youth tournaments. "I remember meeting one of the nicest families," Beckham told me during our recent hour-long interview in Madrid. "When we went there each player got sort of drafted out to a house with a family, and I went to this Mexican-American family. It was amazing, the experience of being part of a real Mexican-American family that loved soccer."

Beckham remembers the posters of Argentina legend Diego Maradona on the family's wall, cherished reminders of Maradona's amazing World Cup-winning run with Argentina in Mexico in 1986. He remembers the pancakes the family took him out to eat each morning. And he remembers the sadness he felt when he had to leave his gracious hosts and return to England.

But what Beckham doesn't remember, to his continuing regret, is the family's name. "I've tried to trace them in the last 10 years and I've not been able to," he says. "I'd love to track the family down because it was incredible."

Now that Beckham is an official member of the Los Angeles Galaxy, the real fun begins as we start to answer the numerous questions that accompany his arrival. And while I'll save the on-the-field discussion for the lead-in to Beckham's first Galaxy game on July 21 against Chelsea FC, the question I'd like to address today is: How will Hispanic soccer fans in the United States react to Beckham?

No matter how you look at it, the Latino community's reception to Beckham will be tremendously important. Just check out the facts. An estimated 50 percent of the Galaxy's fans are Hispanic, according to team president Alexi Lalas. The U.S. Spanish-language TV ratings for the recent Gold Cup final between the U.S. and Mexico exceeded those for the deciding game of the Stanley Cup finals. And the biggest audience for a club soccer match in the history of U.S. television was for a Mexican League game on Univision last December between Club América and Chivas de Guadalajara. (The 2.1 million households also exceeded the 2007 Stanley Cup finals average of 1.3 million.)

It's also conspicuous that Beckham's first two competitive games with L.A. will come against Mexican League champion Pachuca and perennial powerhouse Chivas de Guadalajara as part of the new Superliga tournament featuring four top teams from both leagues battling for a $1 million top prize.

For all the Hollywood stars and A-list buzz that Beckham may bring to the Home Depot Center, "they're kind of irrelevant," says Tim Leiweke, the president of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Galaxy. "All due respect, if Tom [Cruise] wants to come, great, and we'll take care of that. But I'm much more concerned about [Hispanic fans] than whether or not we win Hollywood over. We build our core around the Hispanic community because they've always supported the Galaxy. They've been here from Day 1, they will love David Beckham, and to them it's not whether he came from Guadalajara or East London. They care about whether David is a great soccer player."

Maybe so, but nationality does play some role in the process, and the Galaxy is hardly a team that's exuding Latin flair these days. Consider: the only Hispanic player currently on the Galaxy's roster is the recently signed Carlos Pavón of Honduras.