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On Wednesday 26th March 2008, David Beckham will have won his 100th international cap for England, having been recalled to the national team by new manager, Fabio Capello. This will make him only the fifth English player to reach this illustrious milestone.

A lot has been written about David Beckham during his lifetime. He is famous as much for his celebrity lifestyle (and his wife) as he is for his football (soccer) career. This article though places its focus upon David Beckham, the footballer.

David Beckham was born in London on the 2nd of May 1975 and from an early age it was clear that he was a talented footballer. Despite being from London, he signed for Manchester United when he was fourteen.

The young Beckham was part of a group of extremely talented young players at Man Utd. Other players who were in the youth team at or around that time were Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, and Phil Neville all of whom would go on to represent England at full international level. Beckham was part of the Man Utd youth team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1992. He also made his debut for the senior Man Utd team in that year.

After a brief loan spell at Preston North End, Beckham was back at Utd and started to force his way into regular contention for a place in Alex Ferguson's illustrious team. The 1994/95 season was to be the breakthrough year for Beckham. He featured regularly for Utd and helped them to a league and cup double.

It was obvious that Beckham was very talented but I think it's fair to say that there was no inkling at this stage of just how famous he was going to become. You could argue, for example, that Paul Scholes was every bit as talented. One thing that Beckham possessed though that helped him to reach the top of his profession was a love of the limelight. A lot of players shy away from the media and get sidetracked when fame comes their way. Beckham, on the other hand thrived on the attention that his good looks and soccer skills brought his way. He also hooked up with a certain Spice Girl which brought more attention his way. It's easy to forget that Victoria was more famous than David in the early days of their relationship.

1998 brought infamy Beckham's way as he was sent off in a World Cup game against Argentina, whilst playing for England. England went on to lose the game and Beckham came home a villain.
In the eyes of United fans, however, he remained a hero and was even more so when he was part of the team that won the treble of league, cup, and Champions

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