Galaxy Wins in Hawaii

HONOLULU (Ticker) - The first three minutes proved pivotal as far as the Los Angeles Galaxy's performance in the Pan-Pacific Championship is concerned. After falling to Japan's Gamba Osaka on Wednesday on a goal from Bare in the third minute, Los Angeles bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Sydney FC in the third-place game of the inaugural tournament on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

The Galaxy wasted no time in getting its first goal as midfielder David Beckham launched a perfectly timed cross from nearly 35 yards out to the opposite side of the field to a waiting Ely Allen, who volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Ivan Necevski in the game's third minute. Beckham showed a level of intensity not usually seen in an exhibition as the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star repeatedly dropped back into the defensive zone to help, and then pushed the action back toward the offensive end. His activity allowed Allen to find an opening for the goal and kept Sydney on its heels as the entire Galaxy squad seemed to feed off its captain's energy.

Both squads continued to trade possessions until Sydney's Brendan Renaud unleashed a rocket from 30 yards out to level the score at 1-1. Los Angeles regained the lead two minutes later as Josh Tudela redirected a deflected ball after Necevski failed to secure it on Bryan Jordan's earlier attack.

The second half featured an array of near misses from both attacking squads, but none of the threats equated to goals. Beckham appeared a bit stunned after taking an errant shoe to his chest in the 63rd minute, but after pacing around for a few seconds, the crowd favorite elected to stay in the game. The crowd made its appreciation for Beckham clear by cheering mightily when he touched the ball, and initiating a blitz of flash bulbs coupled with the pounding of inflatable thunder sticks.

The squads met last year on November 27 before a record crowd of 80,295 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Sydney FC came away with the 5-3 victory in that match, but entered the PPC just weeks removed from its third-place finish in A-League competition.

After missing Wednesday's semifinal match against Gamba Osaka, Galaxy forward Landon Donovan sat out Saturday's match with an injured knee. He stated after Wednesday's match that he is approaching the injury cautiously, and that he did not want to risk further damage on the artificial FieldTurf of Aloha Stadium.