David Beckham ended up a loser in his first full Major League Soccer (MLS) match on Saturday, despite setting up three goals in the Los Angeles Galaxy's 5-4 loss to the New York Red Bulls.
Beckham, who played all 90 minutes, helped attract a record crowd of 66,237 for a league match at Giants Stadium, where the average attendance for Red Bulls games is around 11,500.
"Beckham delivers a great ball...you can see what a difference he makes to the LA team," Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena said.
"Every ball he touched was a piece of magic," added the Red Bulls' Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel, who scored twice in the game.
Although he set up a goal with one of his free kicks, Beckham was not so happy with his other efforts, which he fired into the defensive wall.
"Some you score, some you don't, at the end of the day I can't score every (free kick) that I take," he said.
Former Aston Villa striker Angel gave the hosts a lead with a low free kick but Beckham helped Galaxy pull two back, twice setting up Carlos Pavon, who headed home from a corner then a free kick to go 2-1 ahead.
Former United States international striker Clint Mathis tied the score on the stroke of halftime with a sweet volley and New York's 17-year-old forward Jozy Altidore grabbed a second-half brace for a 4-2 lead.
Los Angeles levelled the game through Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle, who drove home after a Beckham corner was headed onto the bar.
But with two minutes left, Angel netted his second from a tight angle after goalkeeper Joe Cannon could only parry a stinging Mathis shot.
Beckham, wearing the captain's armband, had made his first start for LA last Wednesday in a SuperLiga semi-final having been limited to substitute appearances because of his injured left ankle.
Beckham said his ankle was swollen partly because of the artificial turf at Giants Stadium.
He said he was optimistic about playing for England in a friendly against Germany at Wembley on Wednesday.
He is planning an immediate return to the US and hopes to play in Thursday's match against Galaxy's local rivals Chivas USA.
Beckham's coach, English-born Frank Yallop, was pleased with the performance.
"It was one hell of a game, but I'm obviously disappointed that we couldn't get at least a point out of the game.
