WASHINGTON (AP) _ David Beckham emerged from the home baseball dugout at RFK Stadium in a Los Angeles Galaxy uniform, waved a few times to the crowd, then took his seat on the end of the bench _ with the rest of the substitutes.

Beckham was among seven substitutes on the Galaxy's lineup sheet for Thursday night's game against D.C. United, giving the sellout crowd of more than 45,000 at least some optimism that the English midfielder with the tender ankle would make his long-awaited Major League Soccer debut.

The crowd was the third largest to watch an MLS game at RFK. Tailgaters took their spots in the parking lots several hours before kickoff, and a group of United fans _ known to sing loud and long during every match _ hung a huge banner that read ``We can sing better than your wife,'' a reference to Beckham's pop-singing wife, Victoria.

Beckham sprained an ankle while playing for England in June and aggravated the injury in a game with Real Madrid later that month. Since joining the Galaxy, he has played in only one game _ a 16-minute appearance as a substitute in an exhibition against England's Chelsea.

Beckham has since missed all three of the Galaxy's SuperLiga games as well as Sunday's scoreless draw at Toronto, where he watched the game from the bench in a suit.

Beckham did some limited training on the ankle this week. On Wednesday, he said he would not start the game but might be able to play a few minutes as a substitute. However, he did not take part in the 40-minute pre-game warmup on the field with his teammates.

Also in attendance was England coach Steve McClaren, who is
interested in Beckham's status for an Aug. 22 exhibition game
against Germany and European Championship qualifiers against Israel
on Sept. 8 and Russia four days later.