Bare scored an early goal and the short-handed Gamba Osaka defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 in the opener of the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship exhibition tournament tonight.

The Brazilian forward momentarily broke free and scored in the third minute from 12 yards from the left side. Bare finished second in the J. League last year with 20 goals.

David Beckham played the full 90 minutes for the Galaxy, but didn't see the ball much in the first half and drifted to the right-back position late in the match.

Osaka advances to Saturday's final to play the Houston Dynamo.

The two-time MLS champion Houston Dynamo beat Sydney FC 3-0 in the late game tonight behind two goals set up by island native Brian Ching. Sydney will face Los Angeles in the third-place match.

Gamba, who had been in Honolulu training for two weeks, didn't waste any time. They tried to add to their lead in the 10th minute, but the header by Satoshi Yamaguchi bounced off the crossbar.

The Japanese team controlled much of the first half, breaking down Los Angeles' defense. Their scrappy defense flustered the Galaxy.

In the 36th minute, Shu Kurata's shot from 10 yards was partially blocked by Steve Cronin. Kurata continued after the rebound and his second attempt was cleared off the line by Troy Roberts.

Cronin's diving block saved another potential goal by Bare just before halftime. Josh Wicks replaced Cronin in the second half and had a save during the stoppage time.

Both teams used makeshift lineups.

Osaka was without seven key players who were playing for Japanese national teams, six of whom were to play in the upcoming East Asian Football Championship featuring Japan, the two Koreas and China.

Besides Beckham, Los Angeles didn't have many of its other stars and went with an untested lineup. Landon Donovan sat out with tendinitis in his knee and wasn't expected to play Saturday. Carlos Ruiz was recovering from knee surgery. Celestine Babayaro, the Galaxy's big offseason acquisition, wasn't in the lineup, still awaiting his work visa.

Los Angeles had better possession and created chances in the second half, but never really troubled Yosuke Fujigaya.

Brandon McDonald had a couple of late shots, his best coming in the 75th minute. He couldn't turn on a diagonal ball and shot wide.

Flashbulbs sparkled every time Beckham got near the ball, waved his arm or faced the crowd. He exchanged a few words with Osaka's Lucas during the match and later knocked him to the ground with a shoulder charge.

In the nightcap, Houston scored twice within a minute and dominated possession, rarely allowing Sydney FC any possession in the offensive third.

Hawaii's Brian Ching dispossesed Ryan Walsh and sent the ball across to Dwayne DeRosario, who sent it into the left side of the netting from 25 yards in the 27th minute. DeRosario had put one off the bar from the same distance earlier.

A minute later, Stuart Holden took a pass from DeRosario and turned at the edge of the 6-yard box to score just inside the near post.

Chris Wondolowski scored Houston's third goal of the first half in the 43rd minute. He took a pass from Ching and made a left-footed shot from the top of the penalty area.

Sydney finished third in the A-League, which finished Sunday. The Dynamo, meanwhile, play their first competitive match March 12 against Municipal of Guatemala.

Despite having the world's biggest soccer star, the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium was mostly empty, with 15,128 in attendance. It was in stark contrast to the sellout at the Pro Bowl just 10 days ago.