David Beckham

David Robert Joseph Beckham born 2 May 1975 is an English former professional footballer He played for Manchester United Preston North End on loan Real Madrid AC Milan on loan LA Galaxy Paris SaintGermain and the England national team for which he held the appearance record for an outfield player until 2016 He is the first English player to win league titles in four countries England Spain the United States and France He retired in May 2013 after a 20year career during which he won 19 major trophies Beckhams professional club career began with Manchester United where he made his firstteam debut in 1992 at age 17 With United he won the Premier League title six times the FA Cup twice and the UEFA Champions League in 1999 He then played four seasons with Real Madrid winning the La Liga championship in his final season with the club In July 2007 Beckham signed a fiveyear contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy While a Galaxy player he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010 He was the first British footballer to play 100 UEFA Champions League games In international football Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996 at the age of 21 He was captain for six years earning 58 caps during his tenure He made 115 career appearances in total appearing at three FIFA World Cup tournaments in 1998 2002 and 2006 and two UEFA European Championship tournaments in 2000 and 2004 Known for his range of passing crossing ability and bending freekicks as a right winger Beckham has been hailed as one of the greatest and most recognisable midfielders of his generation as well as one of the best setpiece specialists of all time He was runnerup in the Ballon dOr in 1999 twice runnerup for FIFA World Player of the Year 1999 and 2001 and in 2004 was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the worlds greatest living players He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021 A global ambassador of the sport Beckham is regarded as a British cultural icon Beckham has consistently ranked among the highest earners in football and in 2013 was listed as the highestpaid player in the world having earned over 50 million in the previous 12 months He has been married to Victoria Beckham since 1999 and they have four children He has been a UNICEF UK ambassador since 2005 and in 2015 he launched 7 The David Beckham UNICEF Fund In 2014 MLS announced that Beckham and a group of investors would own Inter Miami CF which began play in 2020 From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia