Robbie Keane took just 21 minutes to announce his arrival in America with his debut goal for the La Galaxy on Saturday night.

The Irish captain marked his first start in the MLS with the opening goal as Galaxy beat the San Jose Earthquake 2-0 at the Home Depot Center.

There were little signs of jet lag or fatigue as Keane celebrated his transfer from Tottenham Hotspur with a telling goal and 70 minutes on the pitch.

“I think anytime you are with a new team it’s always nice to get your first goal. It was nice to get the first goal, and hopefully there is a lot more to come,” said Keane afterwards.

“When you play with good players, it’s always easy. I think you’ve seen that with my goal with David’s quick thinking and I was ready for it.

“We tried that one on a few occasions and we were lucky enough that it worked for the goal. When you play with players like David and Landon Donovan, they are easy to play with.

“The most important thing was to get the three points. I’m sure myself, I will get better and better and then the team will get better and better.”

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Keane was given a rapturous welcome by the LA Galaxy supporters, something he appreciated.

“I repaid the fans for their welcome with a goal,” said Keane. “Hopefully there are a lot more to come.

“I think the fans are fantastic. The reception they’ve given me since I’ve come here. When I arrived at the airport, it was brilliant, and then the fans again tonight.”

The Irish skipper also promised the fans he has plenty more to offer them as they prepare to face Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls in New York on Sunday.

“If you’ve seen me play over the years, I like to play with energy,” Keane said. “I’ve always done that. I had a good night’s sleep last night, so I wasn’t really too worried about that. There is certainly a lot more to come from me.”

Ireland’s top scorer also denied that he was out of gas when Arena replaced him with 20 minutes left on the clock.

“I didn’t run out of gas,” Keane said. “Bruce just took me off. I wanted to stay on. It was obviously the right decision with the travel and the few days. I felt good considering I’ve only trained once with the lads.”

David Beckham was credited with the assist for Keane’s goal.  “It was a great night, obviously Robbie playing for the first time,” said Beckham.

“It was a good game for him to get off the mark with a goal straight away. It’s always important for a goal scorer to do that.”

Captain Landon Donovan praised Keane for his goal and his debut performance. “Fantastic finish on the goal,” said the US striker.

“He made it look easy - it’s not an easy play. He made Jon Busch look foolish and scored the goal. It was a fantastic goal and that’s what we want from him.

“All things considered, I thought he was excellent. I think when he gets settled a little more, when he’s not less than 48 hours from getting off a flight, you’ll probably see a little more energy.

“But I thought he was in great spots, did well with the ball, obviously, his goal was fantastic and I think all-around we’re really happy.”

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said: “We’re elated with Robbie. I think he had a great 70 minutes for us tonight and we think there are a lot of great games for Robbie in our team.”