Carson, California (AP) — Seven weeks after wearing AC Milan's jersey, David
Beckham is ready to compete against the perennial Italian power with
the MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy.
Beckham and the Galaxy will play AC
Milan on Sunday night in an exhibition, Beckham's first home game since
returning from Italy on July 10.
"I'm looking forward to it but
it's going to be funny," Beckham said about playing against recent
teammates. "You're always going to come up against teams you've played
with and against in the past. It won't be too strange."
Despite
losing stars Kaka to Real Madrid and Paolo Maldini to retirement, AC
Milan still has Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato and Andrea Pirlo.
"We'll
be competitive, that's for sure," Galaxy forward Landon Donovan said.
"For a lot of our guys, this is a very good opportunity. We don't want
to stand around like cones and get embarrassed."
One of AC
Milan's newest acquisitions is defender Oguchi Onyewu, who started for
the United States in last month's FIFA Confederations Cup and in the
2006 World Cup.
Onyewu signed with Milan on July 7 but is expected to play later this week, as AC Milan competes in the World Soccer Challenge.
Beckham
played in his first MLS game this year Thursday night against New York
in East Rutherford, N.J. During the Galaxy's 3-1 victory, fans booed
Beckham every time he touched the ball.
How does the midfielder expect to be received at home?
"We'll
have to wait and see," Beckham said. "It's great for myself to be back
playing in front of the fans that we've got. They've always been
amazing to me since I've been here. I hope it continues."
Beckham, who played 70 minutes against New York, said he wants to increase that total Sunday night.
"Coming
back after a while of not playing, it's easy to get an injury," Beckham
said. "It's important that I work hard and don't put myself in any
silly positions."
The match was part of the last-minute agreement
between the Galaxy, Major League Soccer and AC Milan to extend
Beckham's loan to the end of the Serie A season in May. Originally,
Beckham had to return to the Galaxy in March.