Fans hope Beckham will boost soccer's popularity in Canada

Thousands of soccer fans will descend on Commonwealth Stadium tomorrow night for a highly anticipated game of that other kind of football and its most recognizable star, David Beckham.

More than 30,000 tickets have been sold for an exhibition soccer game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Los Angeles Galaxy - a rare chance to see big league soccer in Edmonton.

"I think this is the first step to bringing soccer to Canada and the U.S. - having really good players play and opening people's eyes (to the game)," said Jeff Polster, 13, a player on the Victoria Soccer Club's U14 boys' team.

Polster said he'd like to see soccer in Canada elevated to the status it holds in Europe and South America.

The game is getting a lot of exposure of late thanks to big names moving to North America, including Galaxy midfielder Beckham.

"I'm so excited. I want to meet him so bad," said Sherwood Park Ranger player Jen Low, 14.

"He was the best player in the world. Nobody could stop him. He scored three goals in his first game ever as a professional soccer player," Polster said of the celebrity athlete.

But Polster isn't as mad for Beckham as Low, saying that while he's still one of the best players in the USL, he "had his prime a while ago."


Famous players or not, Polster thinks soccer will grow in popularity just because of how it's played.

"It's skill and strategy all in one. You can have the most talented players on a team but if they don't work together and they don't think together, a group of less talented people that work together and play well together are going to win," he said.