Former British football player David Beckham poses upon arrival for the 'GQ men 2013' award in Berlin, on November 7, 2013. Source: AFP
DAVID Beckham is eating pasta in suite 250 of l'Hôtel Le Bristol in Paris, a few hundred yards from the Champs Élysées. It is a Sunday afternoon in the spring of 2013 and Beckham is chilled out, in jeans and a beige beanie. He arrived at Paris Saint-Germain two months earlier and has been acclimatising to his new club as his footballing career winds down.
He has amassed a fortune in excess of Pound160 million. For England, he has the record for the most outfield caps, 115, and has captained the national team on 59 occasions. He is also, for reasons that remain mysterious (even to the man himself), one of the world's most recognisable celebrities. It has been a breathtaking and rather revelatory journey.
But as he sits on a long sofa, there is only one thing on his mind. The next match. The upcoming 90 minutes. The opportunity to test his mind and body against top opposition in the Champions League. Beckham has been given the nod by Carlo Ancelotti, his manager, that he will start against Barcelona in three days' time. He is straining at the leash.
"I love the competition, the thrill of being out there," he says. "I know that I will miss it when my career comes to an end, so I want to put every fibre of my being into matches and training. I grew up with parents who always taught me about the importance of hard work, of leaving nothing behind. My dad was a gas fitter working till late at night. He still is. My mum sometimes worked till 11pm as a hairdresser. My grandad was like that, too. It rubbed off on me.
"Every time I move to a new club, the same thing happens. The players who don't know me kind of assume that I am there for the ride, or to sell a few replica T-shirts. The newspapers say things like that, too. They assume that I will chug along in cruise control. But that is not my way. Even now, I get to the training ground an hour and a half early to stretch and do abdominal work. I stay after training in the afternoon for another workout. The chefs get a bit cheesed off because they can't clock off until the last player leaves. I am pretty much always the last to leave."
David Beckham with his sons, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Stade Brestois 29. Source: Getty Images
As a child, Beckham had the same work ethic. He kicked a ball to school in the morning, played at break time, practised throughout the afternoon in the small back garden of the house in East London where he grew up, and then went to the local park with his father at night to work on his free kicks.
"We would be out there for hours," Beckham says. "My dad would stand between the ball and goalposts and I would have to bend it around him. It taught me to get spin on the ball. We kept going until my legs were aching and it was pitch dark. I loved every minute.
"Dad could be tough, at times. If I nailed a free kick five times in a row, he would urge me to get to six, or seven. He always wanted me to set my ambitions higher. I am a bit like that with my kids now. If they do something good, I praise them. I am incredibly proud of them. But I always challenge them to go further. Life is about getting as much as possible out of your talent."
David Beckham playing for the Manchester United youth team at Old Trafford. Picture: Shaun Botterill/Allsport Source: Getty Images
Once Beckham starts talking, he takes some stopping. He is shy and self-deprecating, but there is also an intensity, a level of ambition that jumps out at you. Zinedine Zidane, his former teammate at Real Madrid and one of the greatest players of the age, put it this way: "We knew about David's qualities with the dead ball and his ability to cross, but it is impossible to appreciate how hard he works for the team and how much of an unwillingness to lose he transmits until you play with him."
In many ways, Beckham represents an intriguing juxtaposition. On the surface, he is as soft as you might expect from watching his television interviews. He gets emotional when talking about his kids. He is sensitive and empathetic. But there is also steel just beneath the surface, the sense that he likes nothing more than a battle.
Perhaps that is the most enduring truth of this singular sportsman. It was once said that he embodies a superficial celebrity culture, all style and no substance. This could not be more wrong. Few have worked harder for success.
In the months since Paris, I have met Beckham rather a lot. In Manchester, in London and in phone calls as he has crisscrossed the world, I have shared the closing chapter of his career, and the opening chapter of a new, rather daunting one. Today, he is no longer a footballer. He retired after playing his last game for Paris Saint-Germain in May, tears streaming down his cheeks as he walked off the Parc des Princes. It was a watershed, certainly for him, perhaps also for English football.
Paris Saint Germain's David Beckham dribbles the ball during a French League One soccer match against Brest at Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris. Picture: Jacques Brinon Source: AP
When we meet in a hotel in Manchester, he is still coming to terms with the brutality of retirement. "I feel this pang of regret whenever I watch sport; the sense that I will never play a big match again," he says. "I guess those feelings are inevitable when you have just retired from sport. You miss the buzz. Nothing will replace it. But 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'm also genuinely excited about what I have in front of me. There are so many opportunities coming my way."
Retirement provides a powerful consolation: he will no longer be separated from his family, as he was for periods at Real Madrid (the club he joined from Manchester United in 2003), AC Milan (which he joined on loan from LA Galaxy in 2009/10) and, most recently, PSG.
"Even when I was playing in Milan, it wasn't easy as my family was in LA, with the kids at school there. There was one time when they were leaving to go back to America and the younger boys were hanging off my leg. They just didn't want to go. That was so hard. I skyped them every day. Sometimes, you have to make a choice about your career that takes you away from your family."
David Beckham with wife Victoria and sons Romeo, Cruz and Brooklyn attend the press night of 'Viva Forever', a musical based on the music of The Spice Girls. Picture: Samir Hussein Source: Getty Images
At home in London, where they live today, Beckham is an assiduous dad. It is just possible that his face lights up even more when talking about spending time with the children than when talking about a punishing five-mile run. "I wake up with the kids at 7-ish and then make them breakfast," he says, breaking into a grin. "They are all easy. Two of them have eggs or fruit, one likes Nutella. Romeo likes coffee, but we don't allow him to have that, so we buy him decaf espresso. Victoria is up as well, making sure they have their school uniform on, and all the other things.
"After breakfast, they are all in the car by 8am. I drop Romeo off first, then Brooklyn and Cruz. Then I take Harper to her playschool. They do these amazing bacon butties in the kitchen there, so she plays and then comes over and eats my bacon sandwich with me. It is really sweet. I pick up the boys from their school in the afternoon and then play football or cricket with them. They love it when I am at home because I have been away such a lot with my career. I just feel that when I am with them, I should do everything possible."
Who cooks dinner, I wonder. "I do it most of the time," he says, smiling again. "Funnily enough, when I lived in Italy [his two loan spells with AC Milan], I took a six-month culinary course at a professional chefs' school and learnt to make real ragú and fresh pasta. I used to go three times a week. The great thing about the chef was that he would talk me through the food as we were cooking it, and we would have a glass of wine. It was really social. I was obsessed with perfecting risotto because it is difficult: you have to constantly stir and add ingredients. Actually, I love cooking. It relaxes me. The kids love it, too. Particularly when I make Milanese risotto with saffron."
David Beckham and daughter Harper at Victoria Beckham's fashion show in New York. Picture: Victoria Beckham/Twitter Source: Supplied
As Beckham talks about his home life, he almost begins to sound like a regular guy, but the truth is that his life will never quite be normal. You only have to spend a minute with him in a public place to realise why. "You never really get used to celebrity," he acknowledges. "Whenever I go out of the house people are trying to take pictures. Whether is it the paparazzi out in the street or people in a restaurant. It is a bit like The Truman Show. I am not complaining for one minute because it is a huge privilege to be famous and to have a platform to do things I believe in. But it can be surreal."
And this celebrity is not limited to his homeland. On a recent trip to China he was mobbed in towns and cities across the country. In Japan, according to consultancy Brand Management, Beckham is the second most recognisable foreign word after Coca-Cola. When he signed for Real Madrid in 2003, Inocencio Arias, Spain's Ambassador to the United Nations, said that he would single-handedly enable the club to extend Spanish renown across the planet. "The goal Philip II was unable to achieve ... is now going to be achieved by Real Madrid - thanks to a British man," he said.
It raises the question: why? He was a top footballer, with good looks and a famous wife, but this hardly explains the scale and cross-cultural appeal of this shy East Londoner. Even Beckham is bemused by it. "I can't really explain it," he says. "I sometimes wonder how on earth it happened. The interest is flattering and when I meet people they are incredibly nice to me. But if you want to understand why people are interested in me, you probably have to ask them. They would be able to explain far better than I ever could."
David Beckham models underwear for Armani. Source: Supplied
But this is also, perhaps, a part of his charm. When we discuss his role in the metrosexual revolution, it is clear that it was neither planned, nor contrived, but entirely spontaneous. It is sometimes difficult to remember that when Beckham started out, to be a top sportsman was to be a man's man. The basic conception of masculinity was narrow and vigilantly policed. When it was rumoured in the Nineties that Justin Fashanu, a top-flight footballer, was gay, there was something close to panic. Beckham shattered all that. He wore make-up and his wife's knickers, donned a sarong, and posed half naked for a gay magazine, Attitude, something that many PR experts said would destroy his midmarket appeal. In a million subtle ways, he altered the concept of maleness, widening it, smoothing it, diversifying it.
"I had no problem posing for Attitude then, and I would have no problem now," he says. "I know that some people thought it was controversial, but I was just being myself ... To be honest, I wasn't thinking about politics, or how it might affect attitudes, or how it would be perceived in the future. I was just doing what felt right. I have always had a very open attitude to other people and try to be inclusive. Isn't that what life is about?"
David Beckhampromoting his new photography book entitled "David Beckham". Picture: Matt Dunham Source: AP
We meet for a third time in Electric House, a private members' club in Notting Hill. Beckham arrives, as always, 20 minutes early. He is looking relaxed and alert and, perhaps due to our growing familiarity, is surprisingly tactile. As a waitress comes in to serve some bacon and egg rolls, she is jolted by the sight of the ex-footballer. "Oh," she says, gathering herself, then blushes. Beckham smiles.
It is curious to think, as I sit with a man now looking to his future, that there was a time when his career was considered to be over almost before it had begun. Pundits questioned whether the 23-year-old Beckham would cope with the orgy of vilification that ensued after he had been sent off against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup. On the ground after being tackled by Diego Simeone, Beckham had raised a foot against the Argentinian - a petulant response, but not a nasty one - and had been dismissed from the pitch. England went on to lose on penalties, setting in train a sequence of events that remain shocking, but which go to the heart of the Beckham mystique.
One tabloid newspaper turned Beckham's face into a dartboard while others questioned his patriotism. He was burnt in effigy from a lamppost and bullets were sent to him in the post. At traffic lights, he found himself on the receiving end of crude gestures, and was abused when he filled up at petrol stations. His family suffered difficulties, too. For weeks, it seemed as if Beckham had become the focal point for an episode of blood-letting unprecedented in modern British sport. He was almost crushed by it.
"I knew that I had made a mistake and deserved to be sent off, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened. It wasn't just the press, but the reaction of ordinary people. There was an atmosphere whenever I walked into a restaurant or bar. When a guy broke into my back garden late at night to try to intimidate me, it was almost the last straw. There were death threats, too. It is difficult to explain what it is like when you are at the centre of something like that. I had done my best to get into the England team: playing for my country is one of the proudest achievements in my life. But suddenly, I was one of the most hated men in the country. I remember the first away game at West Ham the following season, I had to be transported into the ground under a police escort. The faces surrounding the team bus were twisted with anger."
David Beckham waves to the fans as he is substituted during the international friendly soccer match against France in 2008. Source: AP
Perhaps the most eloquent testimony to the character of Beckham is that, in the eye of the storm and with away fans booing him every time he came near the ball, he had the most successful season of his career. Manchester United won the treble and Beckham came second in FIFA's World Player of the Year vote. "Sir Alex was fantastic. He gave me huge strength with his support after the sending-off. The United fans were huge, too," he says. "In some ways, I am glad I went through it. It made me stronger. When people criticise you, it is not a reason to give up, but to work harder and believe in yourself."
It wasn't until his last-gasp goal against Greece in 2001 that Beckham found complete redemption. "For a few years afterwards, a very small group of England fans would always bait me," he says. "Even after I was made captain, I could feel that there were doubts about me as a person. The match against Greece changed all that. We got a free kick at the edge of the area in the last couple of minutes and everything seemed to go quiet.
"As the ball flew towards the top left corner, before it had even hit the back of the net, I was off, sprinting towards the touchline. The stadium just erupted."
There have been many other occasions when Beckham has been tested. When at Real Madrid, he was dropped by Fabio Capello, Real's manager at the time, and told that he would never play again. Around the same time, he was dropped by England, too. Beckham's response? He got to the training ground earlier, left later and forced his way back into both teams. Even Capello, a famously hard taskmaster, was impressed. "There is nothing to gain by becoming bitter," Beckham says. "When things go against you, you have to battle on. In some ways, that is more important than the result. I hate the idea of giving in."
David Beckham has sported many different looks over the years, take a look at some of them.
The big question confronting Beckham today is where he goes from here. There is little doubt that, in his career and life, he has captured something significant in early 21st-century consciousness. He has worked hard, demonstrated resolve, but he has also, perhaps unintentionally, symbolised a wider cultural trend. Since he started playing football, Section 28 had been repealed, same-sex marriage has been enacted, and Britain has become infinitely more cosmopolitan. Only someone suffering from acute cultural myopia could fail to discern Beckham's role in helping to soften majority attitudes. John Amaechi, the first "out" NBA player, now a psychologist, put it starkly: "David Beckham made it possible to be a real man and gay."
David Beckham poses for the David Beckham Bodywear Collection for H & M advertising campaign. Source: AP
What is clear is that Beckham remains as ambitious as ever. One imminent project is becoming the owner of a Major League Soccer franchise, with Miami the likely location. It is a huge challenge, building a new stadium, buying a squad of players, and developing the profile of football in the States, something he began as a player for LA Galaxy between 2007 and 2012. The project will take Beckham away from home for periodic trips to the States, particularly in the set-up phase of the franchise, but only for a few days at a time. The family will remain based in London. He is also excited about continuing his support for the Armed Forces - he spent three days with the troops in Afghanistan in 2010 - and as a Goodwill Ambassador for Unicef.
And yet one suspects that, whatever he does with the rest of his life, it will be the roar of a crowd and the aroma of freshly watered turf that floods into his mind when he shuts his eyes late at night. "Football was everything to me," he says. "I grew up loving the game, loving Manchester United. It is an obsession. I like to think that I have made contributions as a player. I like to think that I worked as hard as I possibly could. That is what makes me proud when I look back at my career. The treble at United, the goals for England. It has been a privilege to play."
- The Times Magazine
###
