Soccer Legends - David Beckham's Early Career The man who captained the English national football team and went on to play for Real Madrid before heading to America was born David Robert Joseph Beckham on May 2nd 1975. He was talent scouted by Manchester United and began playing for them while he was merely 17 years old. Beckham played a crucial role in Man U's supremacy of the FA Premier League in the Nineties and Noughties. he was captain of the English National squad for six years from 2000 to 2006, although he signed to play for Real Madrid in 2003. David Beckham was born in London to David Edward Alan 'Ted' Beckham, a kitchen fitter. Ted was a big follower of Man U and his son followed on his Dad's interest for football in general and that club in particular. In fact, Ted coached the Ridgeway Rovers football team, for which David played when he was talent-spotted by agents from Barcelona Football Club. The first team that David played for however was another London club, Tottenham Hotspurs. Meanwhile he also took training from the Bradenton Preparatory Academy and Manchester United's Youth Training Scheme. He first played for Man U as a substitute in 1992. He was very successful and he made his first appearance playing for the English national team in 1996 - merely four years later. David did suffer from some bad press during the following two or three years but his fans and supporters in the business never lost faith in his talent. In 1999, Beckham was designated European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year. These accolades are not small items and David was on a high pedestal, from which it is very easy to tumble. The media could not wait and England's defeat in 2000 was blamed solely on him. Kevin Keagan resigned as England's team manager in 2000 and David Beckham was promoted to captain. England made it to the World Cup finals under David Beckham and a number of members of that team said that they were enthused by David Beckham's performance. It must have been a fact because he again won the FIFA World Player of the Year Award and the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2001 On April 10th, 2002, Beckham broke a toe bone. There was media speculation that he had been nobbled because it had been done by an Argentinian, Aldo Duscher, and both countries were due to face one other in the coming World Cup. However, that year, in 2002, Beckham became the top paid football player in the world when he signed a three year contract with Man U. He went on to recover from the foot injury and play for England against Argentina, whom they beat although they were later eliminated themselves by Brazil.
Beckham had a tempestuous relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Man U, which led to an eye injury and Beckham leaving the club. His game was again criticized in the 2006 World Cup when England lost in the quarter finals, so he stepped down as captain. However, in his career of eleven years, he made a sum of two-hundred-and-sixty-six appearances and scored sixty-one goals. Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on numerous topics, but is currently involved with watching the Olympics enthusiastically. If you are interested in enthusiasm, go to our website Enthusiastically now.