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WELLINGTON: International football star David Beckham and his LA Galaxy team were greeted by hundreds of cheering fans and a traditional Maori welcome when they arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday.
A tired-looking Beckham, 33, signed shirts, posters and footballs after the team were welcomed by about 200 fans in Auckland ahead of an exhibition match against an Oceania All Stars team.
An indigenous Maori group performed a traditional haka challenge to greet the celebrity footballer and his team mates at the airport.
"I'm just looking forward to seeing the sights and spending some time here, it's going to be great," he told a television reporter.
Later Wednesday, Beckham greeted more fans as he took a gentle jog around the Auckland waterfront.
Beckham fever appeared to be at a lower pitch than on the Galaxy's first visit to New Zealand last year.
More than 31,000 fans saw the US team beat the Wellington Phoenix 4-1 in a friendly and 15,000 turned up to watch the team train in New Zealand's capital.
So far about 15,000 tickets have been sold for the Auckland match on Saturday against the All Stars, which includes veteran Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids, former French international Christian Karembeu and former Manchester United and Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich.
Beckham, a veteran of 107 England caps, was left out of the national team for last month's friendly against Germany and is due to join AC Milan on a short term loan in January. - AFP/de
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