Beckham dream contines for two Galaxy hopefuls

LOS ANGELES, Feb 13 (Reuters) The dream continues for Laurent Merlin and Rui Fortes, the two survivors from 800 players hoping to become team mates of David Beckham with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

In a soccer equivalent of popular television series ''American Idol'', Frenchman Merlin and Portuguese Fortes caught the eye of Galaxy coach Frank Yallop and were invited to join the club for a one-week trial beginning yesterday.

''They have a chance of being moulded into professional players,'' Yallop told the team's Web site. ''Now it's obviously up to them and us to see if they can take the next step.'' The chance to play alongside former England captain Beckham, who signed a 250 million dollar five-year deal with the Galaxy last month, attracted players from countries including Japan, Britain, Honduras, Germany, Trinidad&Tobago and Nigeria.

Merlin, a 22-year-old attacking midfielder, came through the youth system of French side Olympique Marseille and most recently played for Chateauroux in his country's second division.

Fortes, a 24-year-old midfielder, spent four seasons with Rhode Island Stingrays.

The Galaxy open their MLS schedule on April 8 against Houston Dynamo but Beckham is not expected to join the team until late July after he has completed his contract with Real Madrid.

REUTERS SAM PM0945