
David Robert Joseph Beckham,
[2] OBE [3] (born 2 May 1975) is an English
football midfielder currently playing for Italian
Serie A club
Milan (on loan from
Major League Soccer club
Los Angeles Galaxy)
[4] and the
England national team. Beckham's stint with Milan, which began on 7 January 2009, is a two-month loan in order to retain his fitness levels during the MLS offseason.
[5] On 4 February 2009 at a press conference in
Glasgow, Beckham announced his desire to move to Milan permanently.
Twice runner-up for
FIFA World Player of the Year[6] and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer,
[7] Beckham is the first British footballer to play 100
Champions League matches.
[6]. He was
Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004.
[8] With such global recognition he has become an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon.
[9][10] Beckham was
captain of England from 15 November 2000
[11] until the
2006 FIFA World Cup finals,
[12] during which he played 58 times. Since then he has continued to represent his country and earned his much-publicised hundredth
cap for England against
France on 26 March 2008.
[13]Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with
Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17.
[6] During his time there, United won the
Premier League title six times, the
FA Cup twice, and the
UEFA Champions League in 1999.
[6] He left Manchester United to sign for
Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons
[14] , clinching the
La Liga championship in his final season with the club.
[15]In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with
Major League Soccer club
Los Angeles Galaxy.
[16] Beckham's contract with Los Angeles Galaxy became effective on 1 July 2007 and gave him the highest player salary in MLS history.
[17] He debuted for the team on 21 July in a friendly versus
Chelsea at
The Home Depot Center,
[18] and on 15 August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal in the
2007 SuperLiga semi-final.
[19] His first league start then came on 18 August in front of a record crowd at
Giants Stadium.
[20]Beckham is married to former
Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.
[21] The couple have three sons and currently reside in
Beverly Hills, California.