David Beckham

David Robert Joseph Beckham (born May 2, 1975) is a British football player born in Leytonstone, London. He is a midfielder and is noted for the quality of his crossing and ability to hit a dead ball, notably at free-kicks. He currently plays for Manchester United F.C. and is currently captain of the English national football team.

Beckham first signed a trainee's contract with United in 1991, and made his League debut in 1995, aged 19. The next year he helped the side to the Premiership and FA Cup trophies and to their dominance of domestic football.

By 1998 he was a regular international, and travelled with the England squad to the FIFA World Cup. In the quarter-final of that competition he received a red-card for retaliation, following a foul challenge by the Argentian Diego Simeone. This act arguably cost England the game (which they lost on penalties) and cost them the chance of advancing in the tournament. On returning home, Beckham became the target of criticism, sometimes justified (the accusation of petulance, for example) but much merely gratuitous. He received a similar vilification following his dismissal for a dangerous challenge in the World Club Championship the next year.

Following England's poor performace in the 2000 European Championship (from which Beckham was one of the few players to emerge with credit) and later poor performances, the departure of Kevin Keegan as manager saw Beckham promoted to captain, initially under caretaker manager Peter Taylor and maintained by Sven-Goran Eriksson. His leadership, mainly by example due to his fitness and workrate helped England to qualify for the 2002 World Cup Finals and an unprecedented 5-1 defeat of Germany in Munich. Meanwhile, taking the role of captain seems to have helped mature him, in both skill and temperament.

Beckham's highly publicised marriage to Spice Girl and media celebrity Victoria Beckham, otherwise known as Posh Spice, has made them both popular targets for the tabloid press. They have two sons, Brooklyn, born March 4, 1999 and Romeo, born September 1, 2002.

David Beckham is, according to the Google search engine, the most famous sports personality in the world, however the producers of The Simpsons decided that he wasn't famous enough to make a cameo appearance in the 300th episode of the show, set in London.

In May of 2003 Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson ordered David Beckham not to wear his hair band during matches. It has been speculated that he believes it to be too effeminate.