MANCHESTER: England’s best known footballer David Beckham announced his retirement on Thursday after a career laden with trophies and glamour that had a worldwide impact.
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 USA, will hang up his boots at the end of this season.
“I’m thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level,” the midfielder said in a statement.
“I want to thank all my team mates, the great managers that I had the pleasure of learning from. I also want to thank the fans who have all supported me and given me the strength to succeed.”
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.
Beckham started his career at Man 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 Victoria Adams established him as an off-field celebrity.
While his commercial appeal kept growing, his main passion of football – and in particular England – held firm.
“To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country,” Beckham said.
“I knew every time I wore the Three Lions shirt, I was not only following in a long line of great players, I was also representing every fan that cared passionately about their country. I’m honored to represent England both on and off the pitch.
“If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over 100 times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy. I’m fortunate to have realized those dreams,” said Beckham.
After a decade at Old Trafford, where he won six Premier League titles, 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 soccer import in the United States, joining LA Galaxy with a mission to raise the profile of the sport in the country.
He won the MLS championship twice with the Galaxy before moving to Paris in January for what turned out to be his last hurrah.
There he demonstrated one of his other sides as his salary was paid to a children’s charity in the French capital. (Reuters)
