David Beckham started to show his special athletic abilities even as a kid. Born and raised in Leytonstone, England, he actively participated in soccer and managed to receive the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills award at the young age of 11. Five years later, when Beckham turned 16, he was designated as a trainee for United. After a year of training for the team, he was finally able to play as a substitute for Andrei Kanchelskis. That time when he substituted to play against Brighton marked his first game as a player for United. Beckham showed his talent even more by being able to win the 1992 FA Youth Cup and also managing to be a runner-up the following year. This convinced United to officially make him a professional player of their team. In January 1993, Beckham at age 18 played in his first ever game in the Champions League and put a significant contribution to his new team' overall win.



The existence of his talent have been obvious for everyone but because there are still a sufficient number of veterans and more experienced players, Beckham was only able to make his full debut in 1995. Following his full debut, David Beckham continued to impress football fans and other players as well by winning the Cup and Charity Shield and the FA Premier League. This, he has done in a single year while he was playing as a right midfielder for United. This was also the same year when he had his first international game when he played against Moldova.

Beckham next feat was the 1998 World Cup. On the summer of this year, he was able to kick his first international goal playing against Colombia. This achievement may have been great but due to Beckham's display of inappropriate behavior, he was regarded as a violent player. Because of a foul done to him, he kicked Simeone in the back of the leg. Though the kick was done lightly, his fans did not appreciate it.

Winning another FA Cup in 1999 and a Champions League title was not enough to retrieve the love of his English fans. Because of his continuous display of bad temper during games, Beckham received a lot of criticisms. He was only able to redeem his reputation when during the game against Argentina at the 2002 World Cup. Beckham successfully converted a penalty kick, making his home country the winner of the Cup. Because of this victory, his English fans finally managed to forgive his inappropriate behavior and regard him as the greatest athlete in their country.

Beckham's great success in football is not only the reason why his popularity is so immense. His popularity also increased when he married famous Posh Spice, Victoria Beckham. Their lifestyle is the envy not only to most English folks but also to people around the world.

David Beckham is currently playing for L.A.'s Galaxy and would be continuing until the end of 2009 season. Rumors say that he will be playing for Milan after his contract with Galaxy ends.