A Glimpse into the Career of Soccer's Favorite, David Beckham

David Beckham was born on May 2nd 1975 in Leytonstone, East London. He is the son of David Edward Alan Beckham and Sandra Georgina West. His father worked as a kitchen fitter while is mother worked as a hair dresser. Although born in London, the family was a strong supporter of the Manchester United Football Club. The family quite often made trips from London to Old Trafford to see the team play.

David Beckham's career really got going in the mid 1990s. He was selected as a midfielder for the family's favorite team, Manchester United. He was selected by Sir Alex Ferguson in an attempt to bring new blood into the team. These new players dominated English football throughout the 1990s.

Beckham became known as a dead ball specialist. His height and body structure did not lend itself well to a blazing speed. However, Beckham did have extraordinary passing and crossing abilities. He also had a very strong work ethic, which worked highly in his favor. He was considered one of European football's hottest assets and went on to earn numerous cups and tournament trophies.

Beckham had some troubles is 1998. He had played in all of England's qualifying matches for the 1998 world cup. However, the team manager had different ideas. He publicly accused him not concentrating on the tournament and refused to use him in either of England's first two games. He did however start in their game against Columbia. Beckham scored a long range goal leading England to victory 2-0.

The game against Argentina was a public relations disaster for Beckham. After being fouled by Diego Simone, Beckham went and kicked him. He received a Red Card for this offence sending him off of the field. Simone later admitted he intentionally tried to get Beckham to react in this way with the sole purpose of getting him ejected from play. England lost the match to Argentina, ending their run for the world cup in the second round. Beckham received criticism and blame for his behavior. England fans blamed him for the loss against Argentina.

The 1998-99 season was one of the best for Manchester United. They won what was known as the treble. This consisted of the premier league, FA cup and Champion's league. This helped propel Beckham's popularity after the disaster of the Argentina match. Although the club was doing well, Beckham's relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson was starting to become strained. Following his marriage and birth of son Brooklyn, Beckham was given time off training to stay at home with his son who had contracted Gastroenteritis. However, pictures later emerged of his wife Victoria attending the London Fashion week. This event coincided with Beckham's time off. Ferguson became furious, accusing Victoria of keeping David from his duties to the team. Beckham was fined a whopping 50.000£ over this incident, the league maximum.

Things came to a head with the famous licking incident. Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a ball at Beckham's head, striking him just over the eye. The injury required stitches and resulted in Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid.

Beckham remained a valuable player for the Real Madrid team until 2007. He also was made Captain of the England squad, playing in both the 2002 and 2006 World cups. In January 2007 Beckham announced that he would be leaving the Real Madrid football club to pursue his own American dream. He signed a 250 million dollar deal with the LA Galaxy football club in an effort to boost the popularity of American soccer. Beckham still however, holds his space on the England squad, offering his high level skill and expertise.