Mexico’s Tigres UANL easily handled the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-0 in the opening match on Tuesday of the four-team tournament billed as the ”World Series of Football”.
England’s Chelsea beat South Korea’s Suwon Bluewings 1-0 in the late match.
Francisco Fonseca scored in the 11th minute, Walter Gaitan added a goal in the 72nd, and Alejandro Villalobos capped the scoring in the 89th for Tigres.
Goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo needed to make only two saves against the punchless Galaxy in a contest which drew a sparse crowd, with only a quarter or so of the seats occupied in the 27 000-seat stadium.
David Beckham, who joined the Galaxy team last Friday, is nursing a sore left ankle and it won’t be determined until later in the week whether the English star will be able to make his much-anticipated debut when Galaxy play Chelsea on Saturday in Carson. That game already is sold out.
Clad in a Galaxy uniform and warmup jacket, Beckham watched his new team, which is 3-5-4 heading into the All-Star break, against Tigres from a suite box with team general manager Alexi Lalas.
At halftime, Beckham walked along the ramp to the Stadium Club, creating a stir as he and several security men made their way through a throng of fans. Beckham patiently endured a gauntlet of picture-takers as he posed for snapshots with fans along the way, with one man grabbing his arm and holding him until a friend could take a photo.
Youngsters on the concourse below yelled, ”Beckham! Beckham!” and jumped to get a better view of the international star. He grinned and gave them a thumbs-up.
Didier Drogba scored the game’s only goal on a volley in the 80th minute to give Chelsea its win over the Suwon Bluewings.
Drogba, who led the English Premier League in scoring last season, converted a perfect pass from Shaun Wright Phillips, who lobbed the ball from just inside the penalty box.
Drogba, charging down the left side, got his foot up and banged the ball into net.
Suwon goalie Kim Dae-hwan, who kept his team in it, had no chance to stop Drogba’s shot from close range.
There was a larger crowd — announced as 15 349 — for the Chelsea-Suwon match than for the opener of the doubleheader.
Drogba, who entered the game when Chelsea began substituting freely in the second half, had come close to scoring several times earlier, including hitting the left post in the 53rd minute.
Petr Cech got the shut-out for Chelsea, with the Bluewings missing shots when they had their best opportunities.
Chelsea, the reigning FA Cup champion, stayed on the attack and outshot the Bluewings 8-6 in the first half, but Kim kept the English team off the board with a spectacular save in the 34th minute.
Glen Johnson crossed the ball from the right of the penalty area to Michael Essien, who struck a hard volley to the goalie’s right. Kim, who had been leaning to his left, dived far to his right and got his hand on the ball enough to deflect it outside the goal.
The Korean team put together a couple of scoring chances in the first half, but Ahn Jung-hwan’s hard shot from 15m in the 24th minute went right into Cech’s chest and he was able to cradle the ball.
Lee Kwan-woo’s kick as he came down the right side of the box bounced just outside the far post. – Sapa-AP