Beckham could do with a Hawaii 5-0 win to kick-start his pre-season

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With that in mind, Beckham has arrived in Hawaii with his Los Angeles Galaxy team-mates to take part in the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship, a precursor to the new Major League Soccer season.

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Beckham and Gullit: we're only here to concentrate on football, honest

Beckham and his club coach Ruud Gullit received a traditional Hawaiian welcome with garlands of flowers as the Galaxy began preparations for the two-day tournament alongside fellow MLS side Houston Dynamo, Gamba Osaka of Japan's J-League and Sydney FC of Australia's A-League at the Aloha Stadium, Oahu.

The former England captain, who trained with Premier League leaders Arsenal last month, said he was happy to make his first trip to the United States' 50th state, but insisted he is concentrating on his football ahead of the Galaxy's opening MLS fixture with Colorado Rapids on March 29.

"We're very happy to be here, and very honoured with the invitation," said the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, who signed for the Galaxy in January 2007.

"Also, this is my first time in Hawaii so I'm looking forward to looking around and seeing the beaches and seeing everything.

"It's beautiful here. Yet, we're preparing for our season, we're in our pre-season training, and we're not match-fit yet, but this is what we can do (to prepare) in these matches."

Gullit, who took over as Los Angeles coach last November after Frank Yallop stepped down to lead the new MLS team, San Jose Earthquakes, is also looking forward to the contests.

"It's a great opportunity to see the island, but for this purpose we are here to play a tournament," said Gullit, who will be targeting a play-off place this term after the Galaxy missed out last season.

"We're looking forward to the games, and the team's preparing reasonably well. We've had some players with injury problems that need to be resolved, and we still take these games very seriously, but we have to take care of our players."

The Galaxy and Gamba Osaka kick off the action on Wednesday, while the Dynamo and Sydney FC square off in the evening's second semi-final match. The winners from Wednesday's matches advance to Saturday's final.