“The first thing which came to my mind when I saw him was that he was too pretty to be a footballer. That became his nickname: Pretty Boy,” chuckled Gary Neville in the Class of 92 documentary when asked about the boy who would go on to become a world-renowned superstar.
David Beckham is now a household name with a whole new generation of footballers now coming up religiously, idolising him. Apart from his media-hyped public life, more often than not, one needs to keep reminding the world that Beckham’s trade as a footballer has gotten him immortalised as a deadly free-kick specialist. It wasn’t quite the knuckleball, but the vicious curl on a Beckham free-kick did get his name onto a movie.
In his 20 year career as a professional footballer, he scored a whopping 65 goals from outside the box, which is more than half of all the goals he ever scored. He scored 29 for Manchester United, his boyhood club, 14 for Real Madrid, 12 for LA Galaxy, 7 for England national team with 2 more for Preston North End, where he spent a season on loan in his teenage years, and 1 lone goal for AC Milan.
Here we look at some of his greatest free-kicks, in no particular order, as ranking them would be an injustice to the legacy of the player.
#1 LA Galaxy vs Kansas City, MLS Cup, 2011
Beckham’s move to LA Galaxy had largely been seen as a big commercial bumper deal. That is still not to say that he left the American club as a cult symbol and his flair and athleticism seemed to have never gotten weaker there.
On 15th May 2011, with Galaxy leading 3-1 against Sporting Kansas City, a player was fouled further back from the edge of the box at a steep angle, a good 30-yards away. Up stepped the former Manchester United man and curled in a goal of such beauty that the slightly dull stadium erupted in ecstasy.
No keeper in the world could've saved that and it would just be the start of his best season with Galaxy, at the end of which he would go on to accumulate a bunch of assists and win them the MLS Cup. Not bad for a 37-year-old.
Though he would score even more sensational goals for the American club, like a 70-yard goal or from a corner kick, his penchant for free-kicks lit up the MLS in the three seasons he stayed at LA.
#2 Manchester United 4-3 Real Madrid, Champions League QFs April 23, 2003
Before his famed move to join the ranks of Real’s Galacticos, an out-of-favour Beckham showed his class by nearly knocking out Madrid in a 4-3 win at Old Trafford. With United trailing by a goal, he came on in the second half and scored a sumptuous free-kick from 28-yards out which left Iker Casillas rooted to the spot.
Always the man for the big occasions, he would go on to score another goal even as Manchester United went out 6-5 on aggregate, courtesy of a masterclass by Brazilian striker, Ronaldo.
Though Beckham would later go on to score more goals for both the clubs, he described his free-kick against Real as “my best free-kick ever in a Man United shirt”.
#3 Real Madrid vs. Malaga, 21 September 2003, La Liga
David Beckham's stint at Real Madrid was part of an armada of the superstars who came to be known as the Galacticos. Even in a team boasting of deadball specialists like Zidane, Figo and Roberto Carlos, Beckham made a name for himself for occasionally delivering one from the top drawer.
His first free-kick for the club came against Malaga when he curled a ball and befuddled the keeper while doing so. Very reminiscent of his last goal for United which he scored against Everton, and wouldn’t you know, it was also a free-kick.
Though his romance with the Spanish giants didn’t last long and he couldn’t deliver any European success, his free-kicks helped Real in matches when they were trailing.
#4 Manchester United 3-3 Barcelona, (1998/99 Champions League Group Stage
The 23-year old Beckham was in the form of his life and little did he know at the time that the 1998/99 season would be one of the greatest ones of his career. 6 years after breaking into the first team as part of the famous ‘Class of 92’, Beckham and United were vying for European glory.
On the first matchday of the group stages, with the game tied at 2-2, Beckham had the perfect chance to put United up in front and he did so with an inch-perfect free kick from beyond the edge of the box.
That goal would be his first goal in Europe and the start of a European campaign which would see United win the ever-elusive treble with Beckham instrumental in finals.
On a personal note, the Englishman would be officially propelled into the limelight as not only the pretty poster-boy but as a seriously good footballer, even finishing runners-up to Luis Figo as FIFA World Player of the Year that season.
#5 England vs. Greece; 6 October 2001, 2002 WC Qualifiers
The most obvious one for the last. This one takes precedence over the rest for the sheer history, nature, weight and importance it holds for the then-England captain and a once hated figure in the nation.
3 years earlier, in the infamous RO16 WC match against Argentina, Beckham received a red card after kicking out at Diego Simeone, a catalyst towards England getting knocked out and subsequent vilification of the youngster in the country; nearly everyone blamed him for England’s failure with his effigy being burnt on the streets and constant death threats. This declaration of hatred would have probably crumbled a weaker man, but Beckham had a point to prove.
Fast forward to 2001, in a match bereft of any creativity from England in general, Beckham was playing like a man possessed. In the dying minutes of stoppage time, England were trailing 1-2 to Greece with at least a draw required for them to qualify for the World Cup when they were awarded a free-kick 30 yards from the goal. As the commentator echoed how Beckham could raise a roof with a goal, he delivered in emphatic fashion, curling in the perfect strike in the top corner with the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
That goal completed his transformation from the most hated in the nation to a national hero, and what better place to get the goal then at his beloved childhood ground at Old Trafford.
“Give that man a Knighthood” indeed.
