Beckham's U.S. career an epic failure

When soccer icon David Beckham arrived in America on Jan. 2007, he was supposed to make soccer matter to this country.

Over 250,000 of Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy jerseys were sold before he played his first game. With his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria at his side, the couple had a combination of talent, sex appeal and Hollywood at their back.

And the buzz was palpable. It was the sports world's equivalent of The Beatles arriving in America.

"I'm not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve," Beckham said in a Jan. 2007 press conference. "But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference."

But fast-forward to 2009, David Beckham didn't make a difference. Instead of The Beatles, he's become as relevant as Starland Vocal Band.

Beckham is looking to leave for Italy to play for A.C. Milan and soccer is as irrelevant as ever in America. If anything, the failure of Beckham in this country hurts the sport.

The move to Los Angeles was a baffling move for an athlete of Beckham's caliber. Instead of staying in Europe to play in some of the premiere soccer teams of the world like Manchester United and Real Madrid, he took the money (five years, $250 million) to play for a mediocre team in a league that is at the bottom of the barrel in international appeal.

Beckham's choice is the equivalent to Alex Rodriguez leaving the New York Yankees to go play in a Tuesday night small-town beer league.

When Beckham made his debut for the Major League Soccer franchise on July 21, 2007, all eyes were on the Galaxy. What did the viewing public get to see- the international superstar sitting on the bench until the 78th minute in a 1-0 exhibition loss to Chelsea.

Way to display soccer's most marketable player.

Victoria Beckham hurt matters further with "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America," a one-hour TV special that was described in the New York Post as "an orgy of self-indulgence."

The Beckhams were only in the country for seven months, and people were already sick of them.

The Hollywood glitz and glamour did nothing for Beckham and the Galaxy on the field. In 2007, the Galaxy went 9-14-7, finishing near the bottom of the league. In 2008, the Galaxy finished at one of MLS' worst teams, winning only eight games.

Before he came over from "across the pond," Beckham was not the player that had captained England from 2000-2006. He was a declining athlete using his good looks and celebrity friends to transcend the sport of soccer.

Beckham came to America for fame, not for championship glory. He failed at both.

Even with soccer's biggest name playing in the states, the Beckham/MLS marriage was doomed to failure. Even if the Galaxy won two MLS championships, soccer would not catch on in America.

After all, there is a precedent of this exact scenario.

Back in 1975, Brazilian soccer icon Pelè, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time, signed a contract to play for the New York Cosmos, a franchise in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. On top of his three World Cup victories with the Brazilian national team, Pelè scored 23 goals to lead the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL Championship in his third and final season in America.

After the soccer legend retired, soccer fell off the country's consciousness, attendance plummeted for the Cosmos and in 1984, the franchise folded.

While Beckham is a great player, even soccer's greatest player could not get the sport to catch on in America.

In two years in LA, David Beckham has turned himself into a bigger, more visual celebrity, but soccer in America is worse off then when he came.

Best of luck David, you can't possibly do worse in Italy than you did here in America.