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Shell Shockers Get Personal Message from the World’s Most Famous Soccer Star

The most famous soccer player in the world sent a personal "Good luck" message to the New Orleans Shell Shockers before their glamour exhibition on Saturday.

The Real Madrid and England midfielder - whose name was Googled more times than any other sporting personality in both 2003 and 2004 - sent his greeting for the sell-out game against Honduran champions Olimpia.

Shell Shockers' defender Nick Beasant had called his father Dave, a former England international and now goalkeeping coach with Premier League club Fulham. He was in Irdning, Austria with the team to play a pre-season friendly against the Spanish side.

Nick, 20, explained: "I was speaking to my dad on his cell phone when he said he would call me back because David Beckham was coming over to talk to him."

"He rang five minutes later and said that he had been chatting with David about me playing for the Shell Shockers against the Central Americans, and that David had asked him to pass on his best wishes to us for the match."

"I told the rest of the team, and it was a tremendous boost for us to go into the game knowing that a sporting legend and world-famous celebrity like David Beckham had shown personal interest in soccer in New Orleans."

Olimpia won 3-0 in front of around 5,000 fans at Pan American Stadium - the biggest crowd in the Shell Shockers' four-year history and more than double their previous record set in 2003 against Major League Soccer's New England Revolution.

Head Coach Kenny Farrell said: "The game was great for the reputation of New Orleans and we fielded a lot of young guns who stayed organized, disciplined and focused. It was a tremendous performance and I couldn't be more proud of them. The future looks great."

Farrell used nine substitutes to give as many squad members as possible a taste of the big time. One of only two starters to last the full 90 minutes was guest player and former coach Steve McAnespie who was lucky to escape with his life after spending two days on the roof of a flooded Lakeview house during Katrina.

He said: "I am deliriously happy to be back in New Orleans and very grateful for the chance to say goodbye to the fans properly. They had better and more skillful players but all the Louisiana lads can be very pleased with their displays."

The Shell Shockers held out against the professional club until just three minutes before half-time when a mix-up between goalkeeper Fred Mince and defender Serginho Sandy let forward Wilma Velasquez in to score with a header.

Thirteen minutes into the second half Olimpia made it 2-0 when right winger Oscar Garcia crossed for striker Juan Carcamo to score, and then in the last minute Danilo Toseilo curled in a free-kick from 20 yards to make it 3-0.

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