Jones, a pioneer on the U.S. national team during the 1990s, said today he will retire after the 2007 Major League Soccer season.

When Jones originally let his intentions be known to Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of Galaxy owner AEG, Leiweke interrupted him to say Beckham might be joining the Galaxy.

"And Cobi said, 'At the end of this next season,' " Leiweke related, smiling.

The 5-foot-7 Jones, who wears distinctive dreadlocks and is quick with a smile, said he's had a great career, and "I want to go out on a high — with a championship."

Jones, who turns 37 in June, first played for the United States in 1992 and last played in four games for the national team in 2004. He has 15 goals in a U.S. record 164 international appearances, and he played every minute of the U.S. games at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, as well as appearing during the 2002 tournament.

He had the Galaxy's first goal in MLS's inaugural season, scoring in the 37th minute of the opening day victory over the MetroStars in 1996.

He has appeared in 281 games for the Galaxy, with 66 goals and 86 assists — all team records. Los Angeles has made the MLS championship game five times, winning the title in 2002 and 2005.

Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas, formerly Jones' teammate with the national team and the Galaxy, said soccer in America owes a debt of gratitude to Jones, calling him a "soccer icon."

"It is because of players like Cobi Jones that our team, our league and our sport has survived and thrived," Lalas said.

Jones, who was a walk-on at UCLA, had to prove many critics wrong on his way to becoming one of the country's best players.

"When he first went out for soccer, when he was 7, the coach told us that Cobi couldn't play the game, so he should give it up and try something else," Jones' father, Freeman Jones, recalled.

Mada Jones, Cobi's mother, said, "He was determined. He came home and started kicking the ball against the stair steps again and again, going up step three, then step four."