David Beckham
24
Records
Beckham has captained England 59 times, one of the most in England's history.
With his free kick goal against Ecuador in the second round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Beckham gained membership into two of football's exclusive clubs: he became the only English player — and the 21st player regardless of nationality — to score in three world cups; Real Madrid teammate Raúl also achieved this feat a few days earlier. It also made him only the fifth player in World Cup history to score twice from a direct free kick; the other four were Pelé, Roberto Rivelino, Teófilo Cubillas, and Bernard Genghini (Beckham had previously scored this way against Colombia in the first round of the 1998 FIFA World Cup). All three goals were against South
American teams (Colombia, Argentina, and Ecuador) and from set pieces (the two aforementioned free kicks and a penalty against Argentina).
Tattoos
Beckham has many tattoos on his body, one of which is the name of his wife Victoria, written in Hindi, because Beckham thought it would be "tacky" to have it in English. Another tattoo, written in Hebrew, reads אני לדודי ודודי לי הרעה בשושנים, translated into: "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, that shepherds among the lilies." This is from the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible, and a popular Jewish paean to fidelity. Beckham has also been ridiculed in the press for looking like a "Hells Angels biker" and a "football yob" due to his ever-expanding number of tattoos, their design, and their location. He often wears long sleeved shirts when playing football to cover his tattoos from those who may feel uncomfortable about them due to their beliefs.
Beckham has attributed the many tattoos to his obsessive-compulsive disorder and claims to be addicted to the pain of the needle.
Beckham (centre) scores his first goal for LA Galaxy