It may seem premature to write a footballing obituary for a 31-year-old man at the peak of fitness, who captains his national team, scored the winning goal that took England into the quarter finals of the World Cup, and who may even lead Hinglan to World Cup glory. But David Beckham is a shadow of the footballer that exploded onto the scene in the mid-1990s, went on to captain his country and become England’s first ever global footballing superstar.

How different it once was. Beckham announced himself to the world with a goal for Manchester United against Wimbledon, scored from the half way line. The media immediately cast Beckham as a world-class player in the making, and he quickly fulfilled this promise and established himself in the Premiership-winning Manchester United teams of the late-1990s. His ceaseless work rate and extraordinary crossing and dead ball delivery marked him out as one of England’s best prospects for decades and the spearhead of United’s second golden generation. The zenith of his contribution to United’s successes was the Champions League final of 1999, where he expertly whipped in the corners from which Sheringham and Solksjaer scored dramatic late goals.

His domestic form soon transferred itself to the national side. Given his bow by Glenn Hoddle, Beckham made his mark in the 1998 World Cup by scoring a now trademark free kick against Columbia, but revealed a petulant side of his personality when he kicked out at an Argentine player and was sent off. Many blamed Beckham for the World Cup exit, but he showed enormous strength of character when he started the next season, playing as well as he had ever done for United. Beckham entered his halcyon period – he was made captain of the national team and his one-man show against Greece in a vital World Cup qualifier in 2001 was one of the few performances this correspondent has seen where one player has dragged the rest of the team on to victory. But the cracks started to show during the subsequent World Cup in Japan. A half-fit Beckham had a poor World Cup (excluding the victory against Argentina), and his Real Madrid and England form since has been patchy at best.

Beckham has always played to his strengths, but even those now seem to be weaknesses. During this World Cup, a fully fit Beckham has become England’s worst midfield player. His lack of mobility, his over-reliance on long balls and his lack of defensive nous means that he has now reached the end of his international career.

Beckham – the footballer, the sex symbol, and the style icon – is a proud team captain and has been a wonderful player in the past. But, as international football at the very top level now requires fluidity and variation, he may now be at the end of the road.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 26th, 2006 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Players. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Return to home page.