The man who starred for Sydney FC in the Asian Champions League has seen, but never played Beckham before.

“I was in England for eight years and I’ve never had the opportunity to play him. I did see him when I went to watch Man United play Liverpool though. I’ve watched that a couple of times actually! Obviously Beckham is a sporting hero; but not just in football. All the other sports will be interested to see that game,” he said.

“I’ve played against some of the other big teams, like Liverpool and the likes of that but I never had the opportunity to play against Man United or David Beckham. I’m looking forward to it as well as the Sydney public will be.

“I only found out yesterday. It’s a wonderful opportunity for the Sydney public to come out and see Sydney FC and LA Galaxy and David Beckham play. I’m sure he’s going to bring Sydney alive.”

Sources within Sydney FC also revealed that the club was still no closer in securing a marquee player but it remains committed to finalising any deal before the player registration closes on July 31. Interestingly, Corica believes that the “special” match against Beckham may prove to be the deal clincher for any potential marquee player.

“[The match] can help Sydney attract a marquee player. I think Sydney deserve a marquee player, because Dwight Yorke was sensational. I think it’s definitely a carrot for another one to come in,” Corica said.

FFA CEO Ben Buckley says that Beckham will be in Sydney for the entire length of the Galaxy visit and that the former England captain does not expect, or intend to be given special treatment.

“I think it’s important that - and David has said this publicly - that he wants to be part of the team so he’ll be part of the team schedule. He said that he doesn’t want to be a standalone person from the team,” said Mr Buckley.

The match will be shown on Network Ten and will be available in high definition. Ten beat off other networks for the rights to the match and Buckley hopes that Ten’s interest in football continues into the future.

“Channel Ten were very proactive in their support and saw this as a great way to showcase the A-League, two fantastic teams and one of the world’s greatest sportsmen. Hopefully it’s something that they’d like to proactively pursue [more of] in the future.

“The package that Ten put together in the end was the most attractive. The game has proven that it should be a highly sought-after code so we hope that this will be a forerunner to greater interest from all media outlets,” he finished.

Corica, like the rest of us, now awaits the November 27 match at Telstra Stadium with anticipation.

“There could be over 70,000 people there which will be a great atmosphere in that stadium. We’re just all looking forward to it now. It should be a great day.”