USA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: David Beckham's former Galaxy teammates wish him well in retirement

Record ID: 862607

  • Title: USA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: David Beckham's former Galaxy teammates wish him well in retirement
  • Date: 17th May 2013
  • Summary: CARSON, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) BECKHAM AT PRACTICE WITH GALAXY TEAMMATES
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2013 13:00
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  • Location: Usa
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  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment,Science,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAAG4P4X095YFJIIZXRC6NYU9N1
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  • Story Text: David Beckham's former Los Angeles Galaxy teammates wish him well after the soccer star announces his retirement.


    England's best known footballer David Beckham announced his retirement on Thursday (May 16) after a career laden with trophies and glamour that had a worldwide impact that went way beyond football.
    The 38-year-old former England captain, who this month helped Paris St Germain to the French league title to add to titles won in England, Spain and the United States, will hang up his boots at the end of a successful season.
    Beckham earned 115 caps for England, a record for an outfield player, and won the Champions League, six Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Manchester United.
    He also won league titles with Real Madrid in Spain, LA Galaxy in the United States and PSG in France, making a habit of moving on straight after achieving success.
    "Unprecedented that he's been a champion in I think five countries now: in England, in Spain, in Italy, United States, and France, so it's tremendous and we're all happy for David and his family," said Beckham's former Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena.
    London-born Beckham started his career at Manchester United, the club he supported as a boy, making his first team appearance at the age of 17 in 1992.
    His trade-mark free kicks and pin-point crosses established him as a key player, while his good looks made him a pin-up for teenage girls and later his marriage to former Spice Girls band member Victoria Adams established him as an off-field celebrity.
    The stunning goal he scored from the halfway line against Wimbledon at the start of the 1996-97 season announced him as a special talent and he even had the film 'Bend It Like Beckham' named after him.
    While his commercial appeal, personal fortune and his friendships with Hollywood A-listers grew, his main passion of football - and in particular England - held firm.
    After a decade at Old Trafford, he left for a four-year spell at Real Madrid where he won La Liga in his final season.
    He then crossed the Atlantic in 2007 to become the biggest name football import in the United States, joining LA Galaxy with a mission to raise the profile of the sport in the country.
    "I think I'm one of the lucky guys to have been his teammate, to be able to see him day in and day out," former Galaxy teammate Omar Gonzalez said. "I am going to say that off the field I think he's an even better person than a player."
    He won the MLS championship twice with the Galaxy before moving to Paris in January for what turned out to be his last hurrah.
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