The Los Angeles Galaxy boasts a legion of Latino fans, wowed by generations of high-profile Latin American players from Pele to Diego Maradona to Hugo Sanchez.
But those fans appear ready to embrace someone from outside their barrio -- David Beckham, the golden boy of English and European soccer who arrives in LA this week for his official Galaxy presentation.
"Beckham's awesome. I can't wait for him to come," Javier Vallejo, 25, told Reuters outside the Galaxy's home stadium in Carson, California before the Major League Soccer (MLS) game against the Kansas City Wizards.
The Los Angeles population is roughly one-half Hispanic, thanks to waves of migrants mostly from Mexico and Central America. The city's parks are filled on weekends with organised games and players sporting jerseys from their home countries.
Quality matters
For Vallejo, a soccer coach, the quality of a player matters more than where he is from.
"I just want to watch soccer," said Vallejo, whose parents moved to the United States from Guatemala and Ecuador. "And I think Beckham can bring good soccer."
Galaxy club president Alexi Lalas, who estimates the Hispanic element of the team's fan base to be around 50 percent, agreed.
"David Beckham, unlike any other player, transcends all of these boundaries," he said.
"I would argue that whether you are a housewife from Orange County or a person of Mexican heritage living in Los Angeles, you know who David Beckham is. If we were to go out and get an internationally renowned South American star, I would argue that although the person of Mexican descent may know who he is, the housewife in Orange County wouldn't. And that is the difference."
Beckham is widely recognised outside the sport for his fashion and celebrity lifestyle and Galaxy fans seem just as excited for their team to be getting Beckham the icon as they are for Beckham the player.
"I think it's really important to have a big personality like David Beckham come and play," said Diego Sologuren, 25, who was born and raised in Peru.
Sologuren hopes Beckham's move to MLS will open the door for other top international players to join US teams.
"Especially in South America, there's this boundary that says that if you go play in the United States you won't be seen by the rest of the world," said Sologuren.
"That stopped right there once David Beckham signed."
Although most Latino fans at Saturday's game said they were glad for Galaxy to get Beckham, a few were less than happy.
"Hot dogs, admission, parking -- the cost of everything's going up because of Beckham," said Guatemala-born Rolando Cifuentes, 59, who has held Galaxy season tickets for the last 12 years.
"There are a lot of Latinos that cost less than him and they're better players. Beckham's just a pretty face."
Big deal
Beckham is joining the Galaxy from Spanish giants Real Madrid on a deal that will earn him an estimated $250 million over five years.
Whether or not he is worth it will largely depend on the fans -- fans such as Sonia Interiano, 33, who moved to the United States from El Salvador more than 20 years ago.
"He's so sexy. I just love him," said Interiano, who attended Saturday's game with her family. "He's the only reason we got season tickets."