Altho David Beckham played his first game with his US team the LA Galaxy last week on the East Coast, last night was his first home game with the Galaxy since he defected for the first half of the MLS Soccer season to play with his newer team AC Milan. Ironically enough, the Galaxy faced Milan in a friendly match at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA last night … which essentially pit Becks‘s teams against one another. A sizable contingency of vocal and very loyal LA Galaxy fans took the opportunity yesterday to let David Beckham know exactly what they think of him … and it wasn’t very pretty:

As homecomings go, David Beckham’s return to Carson on Sunday to join the Galaxy for an exhibition game against AC Milan was the exact opposite of the Manny Ramirez lovefest that broke out at Dodger Stadium last week. It started out nasty and took a turn toward ugly as the teams left the field at halftime of what would become a 2-2 tie against the team Beckham played for last season and hopes to play for again next season. Incensed at remarks hurled at him by fans sitting in a corner of the Home Depot Center, Beckham approached them to urge them to calm down. One hurdled the barrier separating the stands from the end zone and was escorted away by security officers. “One of them jumps over to shake my hand,” he said, “but maybe not.” Definitely not. “They were saying things that really weren’t very nice,” Beckham said. “There’s always going to be a certain reaction. The majority of fans here wanted to watch the game and the great players and I think they enjoyed themselves.” Beckham got some payback in the 64th minute, when he took a corner kick in front of his most virulent critics in the so-called “Riot Squad” and watched as teammate Bryan Jordan headed the ball home. He turned to the fans to share his glee, even if they wanted no part of it. “I’m not disappointed because it doesn’t affect me,” he said of the boos. “At the end of the day you can’t be liked by everybody.” Beckham was taken out in the 75th minute after a strong performance. He finally tipped the jeers/cheers meter in his favor, but he will be a polarizing figure as long as he’s here, an obligation that lasts at least through the MLS season. This was supposed to be a friendly game, but the fans’ venom toward Beckham became the overriding story. Landon Donovan, restored to the captaincy he was forced to relinquish to Beckham in 2007, said he expected the story to change. “If he keeps playing like that, I’m sure people are going to be behind him,” Donovan said. And maybe not entirely. Not to justify the actions of morons who cross the line to insulting players’ families and other obscenities, it’s clear you can’t fool the soccer faithful. Fans here know Beckham was so intent on not coming back to the Galaxy that he reportedly paid $3 million to ensure his loan to AC Milan was extended four months past his original March 9 MLS return. Many Galaxy fans see the multi-tattooed Englishman as an over-the-hill, overpaid superstar who condescends to play once in a while, when he’s not counting the royalties on his jersey sales. They’re not entirely wrong, though injuries limited him to five games in 2007. On Sunday, they let him know how they felt in no uncertain terms.

I have to say, I’m pretty sure Becks has endured worse from rabid soccer fans in Europe … but in all honesty, what did he expect? Yes, there are some fans who will support and cheer for him no matter what he does but you cannot really fault the other fans who feel he betrayed them and, in all honesty, has done very little to actually help the team win games. To give another perspective, since I was in attendance at last night’s game, there was another contingency of LA Galaxy fans called the Angel City Brigade who were cheering for Becks and the Galaxy. On the side of the stadium where I was, there were NO boos at all for Becks thruout the entire game. After the jump, check out some pics of Becks in action during last night’s game along with some deets about the game itself …

[A]mid the jeers, Beckham played a role in both Galaxy goals. After Thiago Silva gave Milan a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute, the Galaxy equalized in the 30th through Alan Gordon, set up by Landon Donovan after a cross from Beckham. Milan went ahead again in the 61st, when Filippo Inzaghi timed a run perfectly into the area to score. The Galaxy responded again, earning a corner kick in the 65th minute. Beckham, who stayed in the match amid a string of Galaxy halftime substitutions, walked deliberately over to take the corner kick, near the fan section that had given him the most grief. His sent a precise kick into the area and Bryan Jordan headed it in to knot the score at 2-2, after which Beckham turned and faced his critics. Beckham left the game in the 75th minute, waving to a group of supportive fans en route to the bench. “The cheers in the end drowned out the boos, which was nice,” Beckham said. After spending an impressive second half of last season with AC Milan, Beckham returned to the Galaxy in Thursday’s 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls, his first match since the end of the Serie A campaign.

While I, too, am still miffed at the way that Becks appears to be treating his Galaxy team, I have to admit that he played well last night and did contribute to both Galaxy goals. For me, it’s easier to love him rather than hate him … that doesn’t mean I won’t be critical but, in the end, I’m still a fan. Becks did have some genuine fans in the hiz last night … here are a few pics of wife Victoria Beckham (looking a lot less shiny), his son Romeo Beckham (taking a page from daddy’s style book) and BFF Tom Cruise watching the game from their luxury box seats:

All in all … it was a great game. When teams tie, everyone wins … even the pissy Galaxy fans have to be happy that their team held their own against one of the greatest fútbol clubs in the world. Will the fans ever warm up to Becks again? I guess it depends on how he treats them from here on out … we’ll just have to wait and see.

UPDATE: Here is video of Becks‘s confrontation with that angry fan:

HMMMM. It looks like Becks has got a lot of work ahead of him if he truly wants to make friends again with the staunchly diehard LA Galaxy fanbase.

[Photo credit: Getty; Source, Source]