What are they getting in Beckham the soccer star?

While his ability to bend free kicks are well known, the former England captain has plenty more attributes — and a number of weaknesses.

Let's look at the good points first.

Beckham's right foot is one of the most valuable collections of bones in sports. The Galaxy are paying him $32.5 million over the next five years.

The last of his 17 goals in 96 appearances for England was at the 2006 World Cup where he bent a free kick around a wall of Ecuador defenders to squeeze between the goalkeeper and the foot of his post for the only goal of the game.

Playing for Manchester United against Wimbledon in 1996, he spotted the goalkeeper off his line and launched a shot from just inside his own half, the ball floating over Neil Sullivan's head for an astonishing goal.

As well as scoring goals with shots that swerve past bewildered goalkeepers, he has the ability to deliver inch-perfect 70-yard passes to teammates running at full speed on the other side of the field.

Beckham seems to use his right leg like it is a set of golf irons, adjusting the length of his pass accordingly to get the distance just right.

On his return to the England lineup at Wembley on June 1, he swung a free kick that curled over Brazil's defenders and hung in the air for John Terry to leap high and head his team ahead in a 1-1 draw.

His return to form for Real Madrid in the last two months of the Spanish season helped the club capture its first domestic title for four years. Coach Fabio Capello, who dropped Beckham after he had announced his move to the Galaxy, admitted at the end of the season he made a mistake.

Despite numerous injuries to his feet, wrists and ankles, Beckham is astonishingly fit.

Although not quick over short bursts, he has the stamina to run up and down the field for the full 90 minutes without showing any signs of tiredness. That means he is always available to receive a pass and make them in return, or get into a position to try a long-range shot.

Despite his showbiz lifestyle off the field, he always gives 100 percent to his team when he's on it and says he has maintained his enthusiasm for the game through a pro career which now stands at 16 years.

"I'm 32, but I feel as fit as I did when I was 22 and I'm as eager as I was when I was 14," Beckham said after being introduced as a Galaxy player yesterday. "I'm not here to wind down my career. I've won everything there is to win in England. I won the Spanish league title and I played for my country for 11 years — six of them as captain."

There's no doubt that Beckham's ability will make him the biggest name in Major League Soccer.

But American soccer fans will quickly learn that Beckham is far from the complete player.

Even though he plays on the right side of midfield, Beckham is not the sort of player who runs at defenders and dribbles past them. He doesn't have the speed or dribbling ability to do that.

He scored 62 goals in 265 appearances for Manchester United _ most of them long-range shots, free kicks and penalties _ but manager Alex Ferguson was frustrated that Beckham rarely got into positions inside the area where he could score.

Beckham also has a temper.

He has been sent off twice as an England player, famously at the 1998 World Cup in France when he petulantly kicked out at Argentina's Diego Simeone while lying on the turf. England went on to play more than 70 minutes with only 10 men on the field, losing on penalties. Throughout the domestic season that followed, Beckham was jeered by rival fans wherever he played.

Whenever Beckham is fouled and he feels aggrieved, he has a tendency to overreact. Sent off four times in four years as a Real Madrid player, he often let his temper take over and would charge after the opponent who fouled him and wind up in trouble with the referee.

Tackling is not one of his strong points either. Even though Beckham will often track back to support his defenders, he often mistimes his tackles to give away free kicks and often pick up a yellow card.

Beckham's first game for the Galaxy will be in a friendly against English club Chelsea on July 21.