He isn't Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning or Alex Rodriguez. He isn't even Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky or Joe Montana.

Fans showed up to Rice-Eccles Stadium in droves Saturday night to see Real Salt Lake host the Los Angeles Galaxy -- and more particularly international star David Beckham.

The final attendance total was 25,500, making it the largest crowd for a non-doubleheader regular-season contest in RSL history (officially, the game against FC Dallas in 2005 had 15,000 more fans in attendance, but it was played immediately following the World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica).

Hundreds of those fans waited for nearly an hour after the contest, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most famous player in Major League Soccer.

But as impressive as it was, I couldn't help but think that it showed just how far the sport has to go to be a viable option in the United States.

In the post-game press conference, Beckham talked about how having more fans show up now when the Galaxy come to play lifts the play of the team, including mentioning having 80,000 fans attend a friendly in Australia.

For those of you like me that aren't math geniuses, that means nearly 55,000 more Aussies wanted to see a game that didn't matter at all than Utahns wanted to see a game that did.

Those who showed up enjoyed quite a show from the brilliant midfielder with the well-known bend to his ball. Beckham's pair of goals were nothing short of spectacular, especially the first one that curved perfectly into the top-left corner of the net from 25 yards out.

But even with the biggest name in the American soccer stage in town, Rice-Eccles Stadium wasn't exactly sold out.

Although he's far too experienced to talk about it, I wonder if Beckham is following his old team from Manchester United as they prepare for the UEFA Champions League final in a couple weeks against Chelsea and misses the true fervor of European football.

That former team will soon be playing in front of thousands in Moscow with millions more watching on television, hanging on every cross, gripped by every attack.

And he's playing in front of 25,000 fans night in and night out.

There's no doubt that Beckham's a big fish in a small pond. Promoters hope that his presence will help the pond to expand.

But unlike in the rest of the world, soccer is facing two major obstacles -- diversity of athletic interest and the impatience of the American fan -- and for all his celebrity, I'm pretty sure Beckham can't overcome either of them.

Can he limit viewers from spreading their interest around seven other major sporting events: NFL, NBA, MLB, college football, college basketball, NASCAR and NHL?

Can he keep people watching games on television from changing the channel because they're bored because no one has scored in the last 25 minutes of play?

Beckham is a household name around the world, but here he's little more than an interesting footnote, a sideshow that is found in the tabloids more often than in the sports pages.

Sports aficionados may or may not comment on his latest great play when it's shown on ESPN's SportsCenter, and then they'll go back to discussing the NBA playoffs or their fantasy baseball teams.

Playing against international stars like Beckham will aid the athletes in improving their games, in finding the drive to continue the growth of the USA in the world's game.

But for it won't have the same success in popularity.

It's too big of a challenge for any one man, no matter how big of a star he is.

• Jared Lloyd can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it