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David Robert Joseph Beckham, (born 2 May 1975) is an English professional
footballer who currently plays for Real Madrid and the England national football
team.
He plays for and captains Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and is also a
member of the England national team. He earned his much publicised 100th cap for
England against France in March 2008.
Beckham was named as a member of Pelé's FIFA 100.
In addition to his success on the pitch, Beckham has been recognized by Time
magazine as one of 2004's Time 100 (Heroes & Icons), as well as an elite global
advertising brand.
Beckham is the fifth most capped English player of all time, has twice been the
runner up in the FIFA World Player Of The Year Award in 1999 and 2001 and in
addition to being the only Englishman to score in three different World Cups, is
also the fifth player in World Cup history to score twice from direct free kicks.
He was captain of the English national team from 15 November 2000 to 2 July
2006.
Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester
United, making his debut first-team appearance in 1992, at the age of 17.
While with Manchester United he played a key role in their dominance of the FA
Premier League in the 1990s and early 2000s, being pivotal in accomplishing The
Treble of the League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League in 1999.
He left the club to become only the third Englishman to sign for Real Madrid in
2003, after Laurie Cunningham and Steve McManaman.
In 2006, after England's quarter-final exit at the World Cup in Germany, he stood
down as captain. Beckham was dropped from the England national team squad selected
by coach Steve McClaren on 11 August 2006, an exile that lasted nine international
games, until May 26, 2007, when McClaren named him as one of the England squad for
upcoming games against Brazil and Estonia.
On 10 January 2007 Real Madrid Sporting Director Predrag Mijatovic announced
Beckham would leave the club when his contract expires in June 2007.
On 11 January 2007, Beckham agreed to a move to the Major League Soccer (MLS)
team Los Angeles Galaxy on a five year contract commencing on 1 July 2007.
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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