Introduction :
David Robert Joseph Beckham, is a retired English footballer. He has played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, Los Angeles Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain, and the England national team for which he holds the appearance record for an outfield player. He was the first English player to win league titles in four countries, England, Spain, the United States and France. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2012–13 season and, on 18 May 2013, played the final game of his 20-year career.
Notable quotes :
- I still look at myself and want to improve.
- As a footballer, you always want to test yourself against the best.
- People react to criticism in different ways, and my way is definitely to come out fighting.
- I just want people to see me as a hard-working footballer and someone who is passionate about the game.
- Soccer is a magical game.
- I'm a very stubborn person. I think it has helped me over my career. I'm sure it has hindered me at times as well, but not too many times. I know that if I set my mind to do something, even if people are saying I can't do it, I will achieve it.
- Throughout my career I have been pretty successful, I've played for some pretty big teams, represented my country quite a few times, and played for managers without sentiment.
- I'll never forget where I'm from, never forget my roots. It doesn't matter where I live. I'm English, simple as that.
- I don't have time for hobbies. At the end of the day, I treat my job as a hobby. It's something I love doing.
- I don't think I'm really in a situation to complain, because I consider myself to be privileged to be doing what I do.
- Every situation has changed me as a person.
- With United, we'd all grown up together, we all wanted to win the biggest trophy in football. We did it together.
- Everyone's been so quick to say that I'm really thick or I haven't got a brain. People will think whatever they want to think.
- I respect all religions, but I'm not a deeply religious person. But I try and live life in the right way, respecting other people. I wasn't brought up in a religious way, but I believe there's something out there that looks after you.
- The buzz is still with me. I get goose bumps.
- I love scoring goals for England and playing for England. That's one of the reasons I didn't retire - I love playing for my country.
- The spotlight will always be on me, but it's something I'm learning to live with as the years go by.
- Two of my boys are Manchester United fans; one is an Arsenal fan. Whenever there is a game I can take the boys to, I love taking them.
- My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about 7.
- I have got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line, or everything has to be in pairs.
- I'm a strong person, I'm a strong family man, I'm a strong husband and a strong father.
- Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best manager I've ever had.
- I would never complain about the position I'm in or the attention I get. At the end of the day, I'm very lucky to have what I have and do what I do, but I don't see myself as any different from anyone else who works hard and is a dad and a husband.
- No one's ever really given me any style advice. I wear what I want, and it doesn't matter what other people think.
- I don't regret the decision to retire. My body was losing its edge. I was taking longer to recover from injuries. You have to get out at some point.
- I wasn't as fit as I would of liked to have been, going to the World Cup, but I'm not sure what difference that made.
- I've got my wife. I've got my four kids. I've got parents, grandparents still, and three really good friends. It's all you need. I'd rather have three really good friends than 20 good friends.
- Kids can have great passion and great ability but if you have the facilities for your particular sport that can give you the inspiration to become a sportsman.
- I'm used to being around kids. Even when I was growing up in London, I had an older sister, I had a younger sister that I used to look after from time to time.
- When you have kids you do grow up. I have just started realizing it now-it changes the world, having children.
- We've been asked to do 'Playboy' together, me and Victoria, as a pair. I don't think I'll ever go naked, but I'll never say never.
- At the end of the day, I'm a footballer who has played at some of the biggest football clubs in the world and played with some of the best players in the world.
- It's one thing I like about America - they respect the sportsman. They put them up on a pedestal. They don't try to knock them down. And that's a great thing, to be respected by the whole country. It's so patriotic!
- When I was a kid, I thought my dad was a little bit harsh with me at times. Sometimes I needed an arm around me instead of my dad telling me what I did wrong, but it obviously worked.
- Football's the biggest game in the world. America's the greatest sporting nation there is. To play some part in putting those two things together: why wouldn't I be excited about that?
- I love little kids looking up to me, young players looking up to me, respecting me.
- I am happier now than I have ever been.
- There's room for boys' and girls' football in the world-that's what I believe.
- I always wanted kids I could take to work, and for them to experience the things I experience. So, having three boys as a footballer was a dream.
- I feel this pang of regret whenever I watch sport; this sense that I will never play a big match again.
- I have always found it an honor that people have wanted to buy my shirt and an honor that fans turn up to watch the team I am playing in. I have always found that a huge honor.
- Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.