David Beckham

David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (born May 2, 1975) is an English footballer from Leytonstone, London. He is a midfielder who currently plays for Real Madrid and captains the English national team. He is especially noted for the quality of his crossing and ability to hit free-kicks and corners, particularly long-range free-kicks.

Manchester United

1995-98

United's manager Alex Ferguson had enormous confidence in the club's young players and when three of his first-team players left the club at the end of the 1994-95 season, he made the controversial decision to let the youth team players replace them instead of buying players from other clubs. The criticism of Ferguson increased when United started the season with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa F.C.,{{ref|villadefeat}} but many of the doubters were won over when the team won their next five matches. Beckham became a regular player in the team and helped them to win the Premiership and FA Cup double that season.

Related Topics:
Alex Ferguson - Aston Villa F.C. - FA Cup

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In August 1996, Beckham's became something of a household name when he scored a spectacular goal in a match against Wimbledon. With United 2–1 ahead, Beckham noticed that Wimbledon's goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was standing a long way out of his goal, and hit a shot from the halfway line that floated over the goalkeeper and into the net. Sky Sports' commentator Martin Tyler's words "You'll see that over and over again" proved prophetic as the goal was later voted Premier League 'Goal of the Decade' as voted by fans and panels in 2003 to celebrate the tenth year of the FA Premier League. Beckham was frequently mentioned in the press, and made his first appearance for the England national football team on 1 September, 1996 in a world cup qualifying a match against Moldova. He became an automatic first-choice player at United that season, helped them to retain their league championship and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

Related Topics:
1996 - Wimbledon - Neil Sullivan - Sky Sports - Martin Tyler - Premier League - 2003 - England national football team - 1 September - World cup - Moldova - PFA Young Player of the Year

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In 1998, Beckham started dating the Spice Girl Victoria Adams and was pictured wearing a sarong while they were on holiday together. This resulted in much British media comment and created a characterisation of David Beckham as a well meaning and likable innocent often embarrassed by Victoria's interest in her own celebrity. This image was fixed early on in the pair's relationship when Victoria admitted she had little interest in football. United started the season well, but their results deteriorated when several players became injured and they finished the season in second place.

Related Topics:
Spice Girl - Victoria Adams - Sarong - Characterisation

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World Cup 1998

Beckham had played in all of England's qualifying matches for the {{wc|1998}} and travelled with the England squad to the finals in France, but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly criticised him at the beginning of the tournament, accusing him of not concentrating,{{ref|notconcentrating}} and he didn't start in either of their first two matches. He was picked for England's third match against Colombia, which England needed to win to ensure their progress in the tournament, and played well, scoring one of his trademark free kicks in a 2–0 victory.

Related Topics:
France - Glenn Hoddle - Colombia

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In the second round of that competition, he received a red card for retaliation in England's match against Argentina, following a foul challenge by the Diego Simeone. This act arguably cost England the game (which they lost on penalties) and the chance of advancing in the tournament. On returning home, Beckham became the target of severe criticism and abuse. This included the hanging of an effigy outside a London pub, and the Daily Mirror newspaper printing a dartboard with a picture of him in the middle.{{ref|dartboard}}

Related Topics:
Red card - Argentina - Diego Simeone - Penalties - Effigy - Pub - Daily Mirror - Dartboard

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The treble season (1998-99)

In the 1998-99 season, he was part of the United team that won the "treble" - Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a unique feat in English football. There had been speculation that the criticism that he had received after being sent off in the World Cup would lead to him leaving England, but he decided to stay at Manchester United. Throughout the season, Beckham was booed by opposition supporters whenever he touched the ball, but he consistently played well and his crossing provided a significant number of goals for United's forwards Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole. United's supporters had mostly forgiven him for the problems he'd had with England, and were frequently heard to chant "Argentina" in response to the other supporters' taunts. On a more positive note for Beckham, Victoria gave birth to their first son Brooklyn on 4 March 1999.

Related Topics:
Champions League - Dwight Yorke - Andy Cole - 4 March - 1999

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United were losing the Champions League final 1–0 at the end of normal time, but won the trophy by scoring two goals in stoppage time. Both of the goals came from corners taken by Beckham, and this, combined with his performances over the rest of the season, led to him finishing runner up for 1999's European Footballer of the Year award.

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He married Victoria on 4 July.

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1999-2000 season

Sending off against Necaxa

Despite Beckham's achievements in the 1998-99 season, he was still unpopular among many journalists and opposing fans, and was heavily criticised when he was sent off for a deliberate foul in Manchester United's World Club Championship match against Necaxa. It was suggested that his wife was a bad influence and that it might be better for United to sell him.{{ref|necaxa}}

Related Topics:
World Club Championship - Necaxa

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Missing training

The relationship between Ferguson and Beckham began to deteriorate, though the factors contributing to this had less to do with Beckham's performance on the pitch and more to do with the continual pressures of agents and sponsors and a continuous series of leaked stories apparently originating from Victoria Beckham. In 2000, Beckham was given permission to miss training to look after his son Brooklyn, who had gastroenteritis. Ferguson was furious when Victoria Beckham was photographed at a London Fashion Week event that night, and realised that Beckham should have been able to train that day. He responded by fining Beckham the maximum amount that was permitted (two weeks' wages - then £50,000) and dropping him for a crucial match against United's rivals Leeds United. He later criticised Beckham in an updated edition of his autobiography, claiming he hadn't been "fair to his team mates".{{ref|missedtraining}} Beckham had a good season for his club, though, and United won the Premier League by a record margin.

Related Topics:
Gastroenteritis - Leeds United

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Euro 2000

The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters reached its peak in England's 3–2 defeat by Portugal in {{Ec2|2000}}, when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the match with chants including "we hope your kid dies of cancer".{{ref|scum}} Beckham responded with a one-fingered gesture and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that had encouraged his vilification asked their readers to stop the abuse.{{ref|aboutturn}}

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Increasing popularity (2000-02)

Beckham was one of the few England players to emerge with credit from Euro 2000, and after Kevin Keegan's resignation as manager, he was promoted to team captain by the caretaker manager Peter Taylor, and then kept the role under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He helped England to qualify for the {{Wc|2002}} Finals, with their performances including an impressive 5–1 victory over Germany in Munich. The final step in Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2–2 draw against Greece on 7 October 2001. England needed to win or draw the match in order to qualify for the World Cup, but were losing 2–1 with little time remaining. Beckham ensured England's qualification by equalising with a curling last-minute free kick. Shortly afterwards, he was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001.

Related Topics:
Kevin Keegan - Peter Taylor - Sven-Göran Eriksson - Germany - Munich - Greece - 7 October - 2001 - BBC Sports Personality of the Year

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In April 2002, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match against Deportivo La Coruna, breaking the metatarsal bones of his left foot. There was speculation that the injury was caused deliberately as the player who had injured Beckham was Argentinian and England were due to play Argentina in that summer's World Cup.{{ref|duscher}} The injury prevented Beckham from playing for United for the rest of the season, but he signed a three-year contract on in May after months of negotiations with the club, mostly concerning extra payments for his image rights. The income from his new contract and the many endorsement deals he had made him the highest-paid player in the world at the time. {{ref|lastunitedcontract}}

Related Topics:
Deportivo La Coruna - Metatarsal

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He was partially fit by the time of the {{wc|2002}} and played in the first match against Sweden. Beckham scored the only goal of the match against Argentina, with a penalty. England were eventually knocked out of the tournament by Brazil.

Related Topics:
Sweden - Brazil

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2002-03 season

Following an injury, Beckham was unable to regain his place in the team, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer having replaced him on the right side of midfield. His relationship with his manager deteriorated further when, after a defeat to Arsenal on 15 February 2003, Ferguson kicked a football boot which struck Beckham over the eye, causing a cut which required stitches. The incident led to a great deal of transfer speculation involving Beckham, with bookmakers offering odds on whether he or Ferguson would be first to leave the club.{{ref|boot}} Although the team had started the season badly, their results improved greatly from December onwards and they won the league. Beckham scored the winning goal in their final match of the season. He was still a first-choice player for England, however, and he was awarded an OBE for services to football on 13 June.{{ref|obe}}

Related Topics:
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - Arsenal - 15 February - 2003 - Bookmakers - 13 June

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