CARSON — In explaining his voyage to soccer's new world, David Beckham said Friday that his first priority is his family and the second "is the foot — is the soccer."

Before he can begin bridging his sport's gap between the United States and the rest of the world, the former English captain will first need to tackle the challenge of any other Englishman in Los Angeles.

The language.

"I'll get used to that, I'm sorry," said Beckham, as laughter filled a corner of the Home Depot Center, where one of the world's most famous athletes was introduced as a Los Angeles Galaxy player in front of 5,000 season-ticket holders, 700 members of the media and onlookers.

"I'm just trying to get used to it at the moment," Beckham said after leaving the stage. "I've called it football for my whole life. I'll get it after a few weeks."

In a worldwide-televised ceremony befitting one of the reality shows created by Beckham's manager, Simon Fuller of "American Idol" fame, the way "football" repeatedly stuck in Beckham's throat was a pockmark of humor on a grimace of grandiose promises.

"This is truly a historic day," hailed the commissioner of Major League Soccer, Don Garber. "It's a moment we should all cherish."

If not quite Beatlemania, Beckhamania began in earnest Thursday, when Beckham, 32, along with wife Victoria, the singer formerly known as "Posh Spice," and their three children, Brooklyn, Cruz and Romeo, touched down at LAX.

Meanwhile, Adidas was in the process of shipping an order of 250,000 new Galaxy shirts with Beckham's name and No. 23 on the back.

"It's pretty amazing what's happened out here, when you see 250,000 jerseys sell in a few days and 5,000 people show up today," said Tim Leiweke, the president and chief executive officer of AEG, which owns the Galaxy. "To Victoria and David, welcome. We've very happy to have you in our family."

Garber hailed the day as a significant one in MLS's continuing struggle for legitimacy among sports fans nationally and among soccer fans worldwide.

"He is the right man," said Garber.

Upward of $250 million

It was a day made back in November when Beckham responded to being ousted by both the England national team and the Real Madrid lineup by agreeing to join the Galaxy in a five-year deal reportedly worth upward of $250 million.

His annual base salary of $5.5 million will be supplemented by revenue generated by incentives, merchandising, marketing and profit-sharing.

The team, which hosts a four-team exhibition tournament this month featuring teams from England, Mexico and South Korea, has already scheduled a postseason trip to Australia and is in the process of planning lucrative tours of England and Asia for next season.

"He's elevated the amount of attention, fan attention, media attention and commercial attention," said Leiweke. "He's helping us become a more credible league."

The move to Los Angeles of one of the most recognizable athlete-celebrities in the world is a reminder of the West Coast arrivals of Wayne Gretzky, the hockey pivot who used the second half of his career to make the winter sport relevant in the sunny Southland, and Joe Namath, the flamboyant quarterback known as much for wearing a mink coat on the sidelines and pantyhose in commercials as beating Baltimore in Super Bowl III.

Beckham's worldwide legion of fans may have been just as interested in his near-nude pictorial alongside his wife in "W" magazine this week as the news that the Galaxy expect to use him in the center of midfield rather than his usual position out wide.

Sprinkle in a little Pelé, whose New York Cosmos tenure signaled the heights of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s, and those unfamiliar with Beckham can get familiar with his expectations.

"Everybody knows David Beckham is a good player," said Pelé in New York this week. "He's very well known all over the world, and I think he could help soccer in the United States.

"But I advise him: It will be very difficult. It is not easy to play in the United States. The football is now at a high level."

Five minutes before the unveiling, Victoria Beckham made a grand entrance in a fuchsia silk dress with a matching bag, holding her pose for photographers and waving to fans.

Drawn into the hoopla

After the conclusion of a hard-rocking video presentation, the Galaxy's new midfielder emerged from a tunnel in a silver suit and a blond buzz cut and walked to a stage set up on the field, just outside a goal's penalty area, prime real estate for one of Beckham's signature free kicks.

The Riot Squad, one of the Galaxy's two fan groups, chanted, "There's only one David Beckham" and held a banner that read "Bend It Like Golden Balls," a nickname born of Beckham's propensity for arching, long-range passing.

"You can feel the excitement of the people," said Eric Wynalda, the Westlake High product and former U.S. national team and Galaxy player who was on hand as a television commentator. It's hard not to get drawn into the hoopla.

"It was a very interesting day. I was impressed with the reaction."

Beckham grew up outside London dreaming of playing for Manchester United, the northwestern team he routinely traveled to watch with his father, Ted.

He joined his favorite team as a teenager and rose to stardom in part because of a goal scored from beyond midfield in August 1996, only four months after the MLS kicked off its inaugural match.

Which prompts a strange statistic: His career is a year older than his new league.

"In my career, I've played for two of the biggest clubs in the world," said Beckham. "I've played 11 years for my country and continue to do so.

"I've always looked for new challenges in my career and something exciting in my life."