CARSON, Calif. – David Beckham has been dropped on the doorstep of Los Angeles, wrapped in a package of a chic gray suit for fawning fans and anxious media. Now it’s time to see what he can do with a jersey on.

After six months of anticipation, the Los Angeles Galaxy showed off their new $32 million man Friday amid cannon-fired confetti, a rock soundtrack and shrieks of glee.

“Becks” will now treat a twisted ankle and settle into his Beverly Hills mansion before starting practice with the team sometime next week.

His first game is against a familiar opponent _ Chelsea FC of the English Premier League on July 21.

Before that, he’ll start trying to convince his fellow players, many of whom make about a 50th of what he’ll take in, that he’s a devoted teammate and regular guy, something he had to struggle with even among his peers in Europe.

“The biggest challenge is the perception of me as a person,” he said. “Not with people around the U.S., but with my teammates. I’m sure they’ve read things and seen the circus and everything that comes with me, and that’s possibly my biggest challenge.

“It was at Real Madrid and it will be here.”

Beckham injured his left ankle playing for England on June 6, then aggravated it again playing in his last game for Real Madrid, bringing fears he might have to miss his planned American debut.

“I jogged on it for the first day three days ago, and it felt slightly unstable still,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll be training by the middle of next week and I’m ready for the game.”

He called the team’s medical staff “physios” rather than trainers, part of a series of trans-Atlantic slips he made Friday as he tried to adjust to American soccer terminology, including the name of the game itself.

It’s football to the rest of the world, and Beckham kept getting “soccer” stuck in his throat.

“I’ve called it football my whole life,” he said, smiling. “Calling it soccer is not a problem for me. Well, at the moment it is because I keep getting it mixed up, but at some point I’ll get it after a couple of weeks.”

Beckham drove himself to his new workplace, the Home Depot Center, in a new luxury SUV, from his sprawling new home in Beverly Hills, where he calls Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes friends and neighbors.

“Now my family have moved to Los Angeles, something we’re looking forward to, something we’re very proud of, and in our life everything’s perfect,” he said.

Reflecting his tie to Hollywood, Beckham had to field several questions about TomKat.

“I was actually asked if Tom and Katie bought that (sport utility vehicle) for me,” he said. “I said, ‘No, I’ve got two new cars at my house and I definitely bought them myself.'”

Beckham accepted his long-sleeved No. 23 jersey in front of some 5,000 fans and hundreds of reporters and photographers intent on recording every gesture and word uttered by him.

“It’s nice to see so many fans, and I thank you for that,” he told the crowd sweating under a hot sun.

He said despite the midsummer heat, the long sleeves will stay, honoring his long-held superstition.

“Without a doubt I’ll be carrying on with the long sleeves,” he said. “I never ever feel comfortable in short sleeves.”

The Galaxy is paying Beckham $32.5 million over five years to turn the next-to-last-place team into a winner and promote soccer in the United States.

“Potentially, it can be huge. The kids from a certain age are brought up on soccer in America,” said Beckham, who added that his wife Victoria was excited to play the very American role of “soccer mom” to their three young sons.

He was resplendent in a gray Burberry suit, white shirt, pale gray tie and an accent pocket square. A glittering wide diamond wedding band flashed on his left ring finger, a watch the size of a wall clock on his right hand. His blond hair was buzz cut and he sported a stubbly beard.

Victoria strolled on the field in perilously high stilettos minutes ahead of her husband. Wearing a short blond ‘do, huge black sunglasses, a fuchsia cap-sleeved dress and a matching alligator handbag, Posh Spice posed for assembled photographers, jutting her left leg out and resting her left hand on her tiny waist.

Sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz were out of sight.

Once the confetti fell, Beckham patiently posed for endless photos before visiting a series of suites jammed with international and domestic print, radio, television and Spanish-language media, a level of hype that shows no signs of slowing now that he has arrived.

“I think everyone’s aware of the madness that will be around this team and this city,” he said. “But we’ve got to enjoy it.”

A service of the Associated Press(AP)