Beckham, 33, grew up close to Upton Park but supported Manchester United as a boy before signing for them as an apprentice.

"It's great, being an East End boy playing against West Ham," said Beckham, now in his second season as a Los Angeles Galaxy player, after training with his fellow MLS All-Stars on Wednesday ahead of the game on Thursday.

"I played against them so many times for Manchester United and scoring against them didn't go down well with a few friends but it's always nice to play against a quality team.

"They've got some good players and they're working towards the start of the Premier League and, of course, it's great to play against good opposition.

"It will be a tough game and we're looking forward to that. You always want to play against good players and good teams and we're going to be up against that."

England star Beckham, who was second in the overall All-Star voting behind Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan, believes his MLS colleagues were ready for the challenge.

He said: "Any players that are involved in All-Star games want to play well and you're always going to come up against good teams. West Ham are a good team and I'm sure they're going to be running around a lot trying to get their fitness for the start of the Premier League.

"But all (MLS) players that are here are experienced and good enough players to realise that it's not going to be a walk in the park. It's going to be a tough game and one that, as an East End boy, I'm looking forward to."

History is with the All-Stars, who have beaten Fulham, Chelsea and Celtic in successive seasons and Beckham, who had an injury-hit start to his American career when arriving last year, was happy to beat the drum for the state of the game in MLS.

"It's a higher level than everyone thinks. I realised that when I came here, because I had a lot of time, having sat and watched a lot of games last season," he said.

"This season, the level of play has gone up. Every league in the world is different. The Premier League's fast and furious, La Liga is similar and very technical, so every league is different. This is an entertaining league."