I wanted a place
where we could escape.
As soon as I get into the countryside,
I normally get into my whole
country getup, which I'm not now.
And I've got a stick and I walk around.
I sit out here, have a cup of coffee.
I like this spot.
My favorite view of the house.
I can also see Victoria
if she's naked, in the top window.
- What is this, a pitch?
- Yeah.
How often do you
still kick a soccer ball?
Oh, sorry. Football.
Romeo comes out here all the time.
He wants a match
between my mates and his mates.
He said, "Who would you invite?"
And I said, "Well,
maybe I'd get Gary round,"
and he was like, "Okay."
And I said I could probably get
Roberto Carlos to come over,
and maybe, uh,
maybe Ronaldo, he would step over.
Maybe Figo, maybe Zidane.
He'd be like, "Well, that's not fair.
Why would you do that?"
And I'd be like, "Because I'm gonna win.
We're gonna win."
I'm not letting his mates b*at us.
David has a very small pitch in England.
He said, "One day, I wanna get
Figo and Ronaldo
to play my son and his friends."
Maybe we could just arrange a game.
Against his kids?
I will k*ll them. The kids.
We had a short honeymoon.
And we ended up at Andrew Lloyd Webber's
house in the South of France.
I have no idea how we ended up there.
We were meant to be there for ten days.
But the manager called me
about five days in, said,
"I need you back in training."
Ringing David up five days
after his wedding
is classic Sir Alex Ferguson.
"Get back here,
you flash bastard."
Sir Alex Ferguson had an uncanny habit
of bringing you back down to earth.
Did you think it'd be difficult
for him to keep his focus at that point?
At that point, it was not a problem.
But he was a stubborn lad.
Welcome to the start
of a new English football season.
United, of course, the treble winners.
And the newly-knighted Sir Alex Ferguson.
The job he has this season
is lifting his players
to perform more heroics.
He was stubborn in the sense
that a lot of people are stubborn.
And it's not a criticism,
it's, it's part of the makeup that,
they've got a determination
about them and they've got
a certain desire about them
that they don't want people
to change them.
Beckham, of course,
just finished his honeymoon.
The honeymoon is over.
Okay. So, what happened?
I went to an event
in London with Victoria.
Went back to Victoria's house,
and Brooklyn has a really,
really high temperature.
And he wakes up throughout the night.
I phoned in and just said,
"I'm not gonna be at training today
because Brooklyn is terribly ill."
I don't think anyone believed me.
Because I got pictured
with a glass of champagne.
Went to go into training the next day.
And the boss came out
and told me to go inside.
So then, obviously,
we had a bit of an argument on the pitch.
This morning's headlines told
of the hard line according to Sir Alex.
Parents in Manchester were divided
on the David-as-doting-dad issue.
- Stay at home and your kids come first.
- He should have supported his team.
Alex, God bless you!
I had a hairdresser
at the time called Tyler.
I said I'm gonna cut my hair, he was like,
"Are you sure? You really wanna do that?"
Before the game, David has a hat on.
And Sir Alex asks him to take his hat off.
"No."
And he said, "David, take the cap off."
And I said, "No."
Stubbornness.
And then I said, "Oh well."
There's a new look
about David Beckham.
The blond locks have gone.
The sight of the skinhead
will take a bit of getting used to.
Come on.
You're asking for a bollocking.
You're asking for trouble.
He knew that would piss Sir Alex off.
So why do it?
That was his personality.
- Never bothered you?
- Never bothered me.
I thought, "You better
back it up at the weekend."
Beckham.
He was always gonna go for it!
Oh yes! A new look,
but the same old free kicks.
Did it affect your relationship
with Sir Alex?
No. Not at all.
- Are you afraid of him?
- At times.
Okay, at the moment,
Alex is saying he doesn't want to talk.
I don't think anybody's upset him.
But we've asked for Beckham's hairdresser.
I never did it to create attention.
I'm not that person.
When David Beckham
shaved his head,
I honestly thought
a member of my family had d*ed.
Because my phone went off.
The panic in people's voices that this
We haven't got it documented.
Do you know,
this is going to take absolutely ages.
Jesus Christ.
Beckham.
Turns. Four-nil.
Kids, "I wanna be David Beckham.
I want to shave my head."
And schools were, like,
having to write in, "No shaving of heads."
We wanted to be like he was.
Surely, a job for David Beckham. Oh!
Oh! Brilliant!
David starts going from a boy
That was Beckham!
to a man.
It's only natural that you'll start
flexing your muscles, right?
It's a brilliant goal from Beckham!
And don't all kids
Maybe the party started.
rebel against their parents?
He's leaving school and he's going north.
Now, what's going to happen?
He'll move out to Manchester.
He'll either finish his schooling there
- Won't you miss home?
- I probably will miss it a little bit.
But I'll be doing what I want to do, so
He was very homesick
when he went to Manchester.
Really homesick.
He called me and said he had a toothache,
but he just wanted to see us, I think.
It wasn't really a toothache.
I had a lot of toothaches, I must admit.
I got homesick quite a lot.
My mum was like,
"Shall we go down?" And my dad was like,
"Absolutely not."
Come on, Alex,
give us a smile. Stay still.
Sir Alex was the closest thing,
other than his dad, as a father.
Simple as that.
He's had this unbelievable effect
on David's life. Really has.
One game, the manager sat me,
literally, the row behind the bench.
This kid was in the dressing room.
Sitting next to us.
And we look at him and think, "Well,
he must be some player,
this kid, 'cause he's only 13, 14,
and we haven't seen this before."
Sir Alex wouldn't let anybody
near the team
Becks.
let alone this young kid.
We take the mickey out of him
a little bit. "Are you here again?"
"Are you here again?"
We brought you in the dressing room,
you sat there,
and Brucie says,
"You better turn out some player."
"The treatment we're giving you.
You better turn out some player."
The way Sir Alex Ferguson was
with me, from a very young age,
was special.
So it just shows you, we had you monitored
right from an early age, my young man.
It was a family, and that's why
we had the success that we had.
There's Britain's most famous,
photographed and gossiped-about couple.
Welcome, please, the Beckhams!
You've written this book, Victoria,
called Learning to Fly,
your autobiography.
David, what about you? You read this book,
did you, from the beginning?
- No, I'm halfway through it at the moment.
- You're halfway
We're lying in bed, he'll be reading
the book, and he'll look at me like that.
I'm like, "Oh God. What have I said?"
I was saying
to David this morning,
I barely recognize me
and David from back then.
What?
You doing that corn on the cob.
I know.
We're gonna look at this and cringe.
They feel like
two strange characters.
Can I have a cup of tea, please, Princess?
Or do you decide when I have a cup of tea?
I'll tell you when
you can have a cup of tea.
- I wear the trousers, don't forget.
- Okay. Sorry, Princess.
I was always much more outspoken
than I am now.
On the touchy subject again,
which you've touched about in your book,
about Sir Alex Ferguson, you say
that in four years of knowing him,
all he's said to you is "hello."
Are you getting the message now?
I mean, I think that there are certain
things in the book that I had to address.
But at the end of the day,
you know, she's got a great relationship
with Alex Ferguson, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Do you have a pet nickname for him?
Fergie.
It's Manchester United's final home game.
David Beckham.
Oh, what a brilliant goal!
Fantastic goal by David Beckham
who milks the applause, and why not?
I remember it being quite obvious
that he wasn't keen on me.
Manchester United have won again.
And at the time, I didn't understand why.
I think that it's the publicity
machine from Victoria's side
has been interfering with his life,
and I says, "You can't have that."
for your loyalty to this club.
It's It's unbelievable.
It was getting more tense.
You know, the string was wearing thin.
He phoned me up and he said, uh,
"Yeah, I've been picked
for the England team, Dad."
I went, "That's great."
He said, "And I've been made captain."
I went, "No."
Will this be
your proudest moment,
to lead the team to the World Cup?
Um, it will be, fingers crossed,
the proudest moment.
I couldn't believe it, in all honesty.
England captain.
Yeah.
Big call.
It was a controversial one.
England captain, then.
I know. Can you believe it?
Two years ago,
I was the most hated man by English fans.
And now I'm England captain.
Thousands of football fans
have begun arriving at Old Trafford
for England's crucial World Cup Qualifier
against Greece.
Expectations are running high.
They want to see England
on to the finals next year.
Still got to play the match,
but the expectation here is of a win.
I was still hated by the England fans,
so every time that I played in any game,
you know, I got abused, I got shouted at.
But it was the perfect situation.
The most important England game
that I'd played in for a long time.
And it just happened to be
at Old Trafford.
The sun is shining
on this Old Trafford pitch,
and England are wearing
all white this afternoon.
Which is my favorite
England kit to play in.
We'll hope for an angelic
performance from one or two of them.
Seven, and captain, David Beckham.
With me captain, for us
to reach the World Cup.
Maybe we'll be in
for an anxious opening. I don't know.
It was just too perfect,
so something had to go wrong.
Charisteas for goal!
And Greece have scored!
Sven-Goran Eriksson's team a goal behind.
Oh, what a blow for England!
Dear, dear, dear.
Neville wants the ball.
He's got the ball. Back again to Beckham.
This is all going the wrong way here
for England at the moment.
Being the captain was huge for him.
But when you've got the armband on,
there's nowhere to hide.
You're out there.
Halftime at Old Trafford. They're booing.
They're booing David Beckham's team.
It was brutal.
Because more was expected of him.
England need to draw
to qualify for the World Cup.
It will be absolute disaster
and shame if they don't.
How could they have got themselves
into this position anyway?
The armband made David grow.
Nikolaidis for Greece.
Beckham comes to knock him off the ball
and collect it himself.
Captain's example here.
But who has he got to pass to?
Nobody made the run.
It was like,
"I've got sh*t to prove here."
To shut people up.
Beckham desperate
to win it back, he did.
The team can't find a way,
but one player is relentlessly working
to find a way.
This is Beckham.
He's working overtime, is Beckham.
As horrific as some of the things that
were said about me over the years,
I forgot everything.
The last four years
had been so tough that, um,
I think it took a toll on me
that probably, uh
I never even knew myself.
Look at Beckham trying to win it back.
He's been like two men.
I just wanted to do something
that could rectify what I did in '98.
Here's Beckham for England.
Still hope, is there? Beckham.
There is still hope. Still Beckham.
While there's Beckham,
there's always hope.
It's a free kick in what is probably
the penultimate minute of the game.
I just wanted to make everyone happy.
by The Spenser Davis Group playing]
If ever we needed a David Beckham special,
it's now.
Beckham. Yes!
He's done it!
I remember saying to Becks,
"Thank f*ck you're on our team."
Well, my temperature's rising
♪ And my feet on the floor ♪
Crazy people knocking
♪ 'Cause they're wanting some more ♪
One of the great performances
of all time. A guy called Beckham.
How's his hair?
This will surely go down
as his finest hour.
Quite a transformation.
Now he's a national hero.
I was expecting
to walk into the training ground
and the manager be like,
"Unbelievable!"
And he literally
didn't even mention the game.
He didn't even men I was like, "Boss."
Tonight, we bring you
the story of how David Beckham
became a global phenomenon.
Did you ever think,
when kicking a ball in the park,
that one day you might be
being a model as well?
No. All I ever wanted to do
when I was young was play football.
- Is that still all you want?
- Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
♪ So glad we made it ♪
If you've had Sir Alex Ferguson
in your life,
you're putting the team first.
Big it up for none other than
Victoria and David Beckham!
Tell me, is your little boy
starting to put whole sentences together?
He's saying little bits and pieces. Yeah.
And what about Brooklyn?
You might be an individual,
you might have your own brand
but in here, you're normal.
I think you're Britain's
highest-paid sportsman, aren't you?
Off the pitch.
David is, uh
I call him Goldenballs,
you know, now, because every time
You can't, 'cause you earn more money,
are a bigger star or get more headlines,
think you're the big That doesn't work.
David Beckham is keeping
his latest barnet under wraps.
Should we talk about
the haircut first, get it out the way?
If you want to. Go on.
Tell us about it.
Why did you decide to do it?
Um, no particular reason.
It's just me.
♪ Gimme some lovin' ♪
♪ Oh, gimme, gimme some lovin' ♪
It doesn't get much bigger
than this next kick of the football.
David Beckham, to give England the lead
against Argentina.
He's big enough!
Carlos,
anytime you want to start over
No, I'm going to try to talk as natural
- As much natural as possible.
- Exactly.
If you wanna swear in Portuguese, do it.
- When I arrived to Manchester
- Everybody cool?
I was not sure
if Alex Ferguson invited me because
I was a coach or because I was able
to communicate in three language.
In the club, we have Spanish,
French, Italians,
Portuguese and English, so it was a mess.
But give me the benefit that he invite me
because of my coaching skills.
Carlos Queiroz, who I knew nothing about,
knew nothing of,
didn't understand how he came in,
but he did.
Carlos was very strong and stern.
Really, like, school teacher-ish.
He called people their surnames.
Like, "Ferdinand, bring the ball."
"Huh?"
Carlos could rub people up
the wrong way just by his manner.
It was just a different way of doing it
than we'd been used to.
I never got on with him.
I loved him. I loved Carlos.
Words of advice from Carlos Queiroz.
That season
He's got away from David Beckham.
our observations
and analysis that we start to feel
that David's performance was
in a declining process.
Samuel wins his battle with Beckham.
I I was mad with that situation.
"What's going on? I I"
All of a sudden, one story come out.
The famous advertising of gladiators.
Apparently, to perform those advertising,
a couple of players
developed the upper body.
And if one player develop
three, four or five kilos more
in the upper body
without the right coordination
they can affect their performance
as a football player.
It was clear
that it was not the same David.
See, there's the problem.
I would never, ever have put myself
professionally in a position
that changed the way I played.
In 2003, guys like David,
they're not only playing football,
they're companies.
I love cars.
It is a fight between
things inside the pitch
and outside the pitch.
In that period,
the business jump inside the pitch.
Eventually, it exploded.
And I think that the culmination
of all that was the boot-room incident.
So, let's just talk
about the boot thing.
Can you just set that up a little bit?
Um
Were you there?
Yeah, of course I was.
It's my boot.
So this is it, huh?
This is where
all the so-called dreams are made.
From what I remember,
we lost against Arsenal.
A very stern-looking
Sir Alex Ferguson, and no wonder.
We walked in the changing room,
and the boss is fuming.
I can see by his face.
And when you see the boss's face
like this, you don't wanna be near him.
- Show me his face.
- Oh, no. It's a face that no one can do.
Trust me.
You know, when you lose,
you take your boots off
and you kick them off, and you're
sat there, waiting for the gaffer to talk.
They just set their kit off on the floor.
Joe Mug here used to come along
and pick it up.
But Sir Alex was doing his debrief.
You know, "You've done this wrong.
You've f*cking well done that wrong."
And he starts
effing and blinding on David.
"David, this about this goal.
You didn't follow your runner."
And I went back at the boss. I said, "No."
"Look at the video," David says.
Sir Alex, "I don't need a f*cking video."
"I've got my eyes. I remember."
And then I swore. I said the F-word.
And then I saw him change.
And I was like,
"sh*t. I really shouldn't have said that."
We all did it once.
Every player
that was with Sir Alex for a long time
maybe told him to f*ck off once.
And you didn't do it again.
I think I said the F-word too many times,
and then he
comes flying across from here,
in a rage, and he just kicked out
at these load of clothes,
and a boot sh*t up
I could just see my boot flying.
I kicked the boot. It hit him on the head.
I mean, honestly,
it was an absolute freak.
and just clipped David above the eye.
He couldn't do it again
if he'd have tried.
And I've gone like that,
and then I've gone like that,
and then I've gone like that.
- Someone had to hold you back?
- Yeah.
- You went at him?
- Yeah.
The boss was absolutely gutted
because he's not a man like that.
It was only a nick.
It wasn't worth a stitch.
It didn't look pretty.
Then there was this picture
of stitches, and
Well, yeah.
I'm not going to talk about that.
Okay.
The thing I'll say about that,
I think that was stage-managed.
And like I say,
it wasn't even worth a stitch.
Details were sketchy.
United manager Alex Ferguson
admitted he had kicked the boot,
accidentally striking Beckham.
Uh, regarding Saturday's game,
uh, first and foremost, I have to stress,
as I've stressed this
over my 29 years as a coach,
whatever happens in the dressing room
is sacrosanct.
The incident raises a question: who told the story to the newspapers?
I remember a player
coming up to me that week
and saying,
"The boss turned 'round to the doctor
and said, 'He's been making it worse.'"
And I wasn't. I wasn't.
And contrary to, uh,
contrary to a lot of the reports,
David did not have two stitches
put in his head. He had no stitches.
So it was a graze,
and we move on,
and that's all there is to be said for it.
The Champions League
quarterfinal between greats of football,
Manchester United and Real Madrid.
I think we're in
for a fascinating evening.
Pay attention, because wherever you go,
this is what everybody
will be talking about tomorrow.
It's showtime.
Real Madrid has always been
one of those clubs
that is every kid's dream to play for.
It's almost a fantasy.
A bullish Sir Alex
Ferguson has been intent on assuring us
that Real are from the same planet
as his players.
It excited me to see them
walk from the changing room,
because I'm a fan.
The cast list is as follows
So I was desperate
to get on the field.
So, what happened?
Everywhere you look,
a headline waiting to be made.
Before the game, the manager shouted,
"David, can I have a word?"
They spoke for a little while,
and David left.
He's like
I knew something was up.
Look at the Manchester
United 11, there's a shock.
Beckham's not playing.
Do you remember how you felt?
Furious.
It's a big surprise,
almost disbelief.
David's boiling.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Mad.
Because he's never
been left out before.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
preferred to David Beckham.
I felt like I had a place to play
in that position.
I was quicker than David, for sure.
And this is The Theatre of Dreams.
I don't think that any of you
will be dozing off during this one.
Unfortunately,
that gentleman called Ronaldo k*ll us.
Quickly onto Ronaldo,
who's stolen a march on Ferdinand.
Ronaldo's sh*t!
Heartbreaker.
Ronaldo with a blow to the heart
of Manchester United's hopes.
They are flash. Difficult to be the most
famous institution in world football
and be humble about it.
They belong in the big time
and they know it.
You wanted me to talk about Pérez?
Yeah, yeah. That would be great.
Okay. Florentino Pérez is a piece of work.
Florentino Pérez simultaneously
ran this big multinational company
and he ran Real Madrid,
the biggest football club in the world.
His construction business
was the prose of his life.
Real Madrid was the poetry of his life.
Just I'll say hello.
In the construction company,
he would do everything
in a very measured way,
and in Real Madrid,
he allowed himself to let his hair down.
Like a wild kid.
Now, he is bold to the point of shameless.
Here is a club pass for Real Madrid.
And so his thinking
was incredibly simplistic.
You know,
"We buy the best players, we'll win."
And at the same time, to bring in money.
Hello. Florentino Pérez.
You speak with me and I'll
We'll do it in Español.
Yes. I prefer to speak in Spanish
because my English is very bad now.
He also has
a very keen interest in works of art.
Great. Okay. So we start.
And so, what were
the most beautiful works of art
in the football world at that time?
Luís Figo.
Elegance itself.
We got him. He's up on the wall.
Who else is there? Zidane.
The Baryshnikov of football.
Zidane's up on the wall.
So, who's next?
Ronaldo, the Brazilian.
The greatest living goalscorer
of that time.
The next work of art was Roberto Carlos,
a Brazilian. Fantastic.
They were, arguably,
the greatest players in the world, right?
They were not "arguably"
the best players in the world.
They were the best. There was no debate.
So, who was left?
Michelangelo's David.
I remember seeing him as he came on.
Nobody should
underestimate the pride of David Beckham
and how it will have been hurt
by the selection tonight.
There seemed to be an extra
fire in his belly.
It is Beckham. Oof!
That's one of the best
I think I've ever seen him score, that.
That was phenomenal.
Real Madrid and David Beckham
were, at that time, in 2003,
the two biggest brands in football.
Therefore, there was a certain
commercial, financial logic
in a fusion of these two
enormous global brands.
I know exactly what my fans want,
and I knew Beckham
was one of those players
who were born to play at Real Madrid.
So I did everything I could
to get him.
Real Madrid, they have
broken the hearts of Manchester United.
A mesmeric, memorable game
full of stories.
Zidane came up to me.
And he doesn't speak
so much English, Zizou,
and he doesn't really say too much, ever.
He came up to me,
shook hands, and he went,
"You come to Madrid?"
And I was like, "Did Zizou just say that?"
I love that moment.
It doesn't get any better than that.
But I had no interest.
Manchester United was my team.
It was the only club
I ever wanted to play for.
But I also loved Real Madrid.
The bigger questions will begin.
What does Sir Alex Ferguson do now?
- All right.
- Okay, Nick.
I know your club, you never stand
still, you're always looking forward.
Do you feel, this summer,
that you have got to evolve the side?
It won't be anything drastic
or anything like that.
No one will be leaving,
the players will be here,
and I just need to fine-tune things.
Sir Alex, thanks.
Alex Ferguson,
he knocked the door,
come and sit in front of me,
and he said, "Done."
"David is leaving us."
It was just like that. Ice. "It's done."
And he started to talk
about, uh another thing.
I am pleased to announce
that Manchester United have agreed
to a deal
that will make David Beckham a player
for Barcelona FC.
"What?"
Come on! Come and get your Standard!
United say yeah for bid to Becks!
How is that possible?
- You heard about Beckham, then?
- Yes.
- I can't believe it. I'm devastated.
- I know.
It's the worst bit, the worst,
very worst bit of management
I've ever seen.
I called the club.
And I said, "Can I speak to the boss?"
And they said,
"No. He doesn't want to talk to you."
And I said,
"Please just let me speak to the boss."
"I need to know
that this is really what he wants."
I'd have pleaded to not go.
But why didn't you?
Because I couldn't get in contact
with the boss.
I think the relationship
was at a stalemate anyway.
There was not going to be any point
in me saying to David,
you know, "I'm selling you,"
and then he would say, "Why?"
I don't think I'd have changed his mind
Well, I don't know. I don't know.
The decision that was made was better.
Uh, he went, you know
Or he didn't need to go.
He could have stayed if he wanted,
but I think he knew it was the right time.
But did I ever want to leave Man United?
Of course not.
Never.
It was my home.
My relationship with the boss
was always special.
Yeah, we had our moments,
but I still loved him.
You're never going to be in love
with players all your life. Never.
It's never going to be that way, because
uh, you're picking a player because
of his performance on the football field.
You know, not because of
your relationship with him off the field.
I've never said this, but
I'm glad I didn't speak to him,
because I think
it would've broken my heart.
But that was it for me.
That was it. That was, um
That was it for
That was it at United, really.
That was it.
Yeah, he was
like, literally heart-broke,
like, beyond, like Yeah.
Since the age of 15, you know,
all he knew was Manchester United.
You know?
And then, all of a sudden, it's like
And he's probably
never really got over it.
He's probably never really got over it.
We were brothers.
It was a family.
And you're never gonna leave.
And me and him
were down that right-hand side.
Because we're all thinking
we'll play for United forever.
I had to make a decision.
So I said, "If you want me to leave,
and I don't want to leave,
but if you want me to leave"
"I want to move to I want to move
to the club that I want to move to."
"If I'm being pushed out of Man United,
this is where I wanna go."
Perfect.
I remember
being stood in my kitchen.
The phone rings.
Florentino comes on.
He said, "David, would you like
to play for Real Madrid?"
"Yes."
"No problem. Done."
It may sound bad,
but with all respect to Manchester United,
like I said before,
he was simply born to play at Real Madrid.
Okay, so, you tell Victoria
you're going to Madrid,
right, at that point?
What does she say?
"What do you mean, 'Going to Spain'?"
"We're going to Spain." "When?"
"Uh, in about 12 hours."
I was like, "What do you mean?
We don't have anywhere to live."
"We don't have schools for the children.
What What do you mean?"
But then the reality is we moved to Spain.
Like that.
David Beckham arrived at Zarzuela Clinic
taking his final step
to becoming a Real Madrid player.
In our opinion, he's in perfect condition.
He also seems like
he's got his feet on the ground.
I remember being with
the president, and his office looked out
over these tower blocks, and he was like,
"Those are the Galácticos."
"You've got Figo, you've got Ronaldo,
you've got Zidane."
He said, "Look, that one's yours."
And I was like,
"Okay." I liked that.
Did Madrid sign him for this?
Or for this?
People already had
a preconception of me.
You know, I'm married to a Spice Girl.
You know, all the circus around.
So I wanted to go in so low-key, just me.
The day that David Beckham
signed for Real Madrid
is a day unmatched
in the signing of any players anywhere
in history.
He arrives in the city as if he were
the President of the United States.
This was crazy, right?
Yeah.
This was
the biggest ticket in town.
Anybody who was anybody in Spain
wanted to be invited.
The politicians,
the judges, all the top businessmen,
all brought their good lady wives along
because otherwise,
they'd have had hell in their marriages
the rest of their lives
if they hadn't brought them
for the big event.
Good morning.
David Beckham is here
because we believe in him as a footballer.
He is a man who is a symbol of our era,
a symbol of post-modernity.
David, welcome
to the league of dreams. Thank you.
Gracias, ladies and gentlemen.
I have always loved football.
Of course, I love my family.
But football is everything to me.
I remember turning
around to Victoria.
And I'm not sure
how happy Victoria was about it.
But I said to her,
"We have to look at this
like this is forever."
Less than ideal.
Welcome to Madrid, David Beckham.
When I did the interview with him,
he arrived barefooted.
I don't know what that was about.
- Your Spanish, are you gonna work at it?
- Definitely.
It's something that
I'm trying to learn already.
Having interviewed famous people,
you see so many of them
are actually complete pricks.
Your kids, Brooklyn in particular,
he'll be bilingual before you know it.
He can actually say "hola" and "adiós."
There was a curious
contrast between
how big and famous David Beckham was,
and how awkward he was talking in public.
It's an amazing experience
that I'm stepping into now.
It's going to be a great life
for me over here and my family.
And, uh, my family's definitely
going to enjoy living here.
David!
I remember,
before my first training session
I'm there before everyone.
So I was in the changing room on my own.
Sat there, just waiting.
Ner Like, sweating.
I was so nervous.
And
Figo walks in.
- Good afternoon.
- Good afternoon, Luís. Here.
Shakes my hand. "Welcome."
Roberto.
Roberto walks in, shakes my hand.
- ¿Qué tal? Okay?
- Muy bien. How are you?
Ronaldo walks in.
I don't think I've ever been as nervous.
Did you throw up?
No, I didn't I didn't throw up, but
We see this gorgeous guy.
A blond guy who is joining our team.
A beautiful guy.
Everyone wanted to have his haircut.
But with my curly hair
it was more difficult for me
to copy his hairstyle.
I remember,
we played this small-sided game.
Ronaldo was about to score,
so I've slid,
and as I've slid,
he just put his foot on the ball
and he watched me go past, like that.
"Okay, this is this is the level
that I have to get to."
Nice place for an interview.
It's really nice.
But, of course, all the guys talking.
"What you think?"
"I don't know,
to be honest. Really unpredictable."
"I don't know if this guy
is gonna is gonna suit to us."
All the things around him, you know,
the wife,
the press, you know, talking about him.
That brings bad things
into the dressing room.
The main thing is where is he gonna play?
Because Figo's on the right.
And Figo is one of the best right-mids,
you know, in the world, by far.
When, uh, it was coming out
that probably David came,
everyone started to talk. "Now he comes
to play in your position. Blah-blah-blah."
"It will be a fight, competition between
Luís and David for the position.
Blah-blah-blah."
I was not scared at all.
Figo was in the position
where I played.
I didn't want to turn around
to Figo and say,
"I'm here now."
"Where are you going to play?"
You know, this is Figo.
I think, in that time,
it was not really what the team needs.
Why do you think
Pérez brought him in though?
I don't know.
You have to ask the president.
We were able to triple our revenue.
Beckham will be in the Far East
with his new club, Real Madrid,
who no doubt will be
cashing in on their new signing.
They get half the profits
of taking the Beckham brand on the road.
One of the most lucrative
promotional trips ever.
I'd been on tours with United.
This was a whole different level.
I remember, we arrived at this hotel,
and there were 10,000 people
at 4:00 a.m.
So, that was happening because of Beckham.
He brought
that kind of craziness.
It was more like
a rock band than a football team.
This transcended football.
We were no longer talking
only about football lovers.
Women supporters.
We love Beckham!
On the advertising
billboards, there were 40 Beckham adverts
and only one of me.
It is the first time
that we go worldwide.
Because of one player.
We were so comfortable
in our houses in Spain.
Now, suddenly,
we were 30 days out of our families.
So, for us,
it was a pain in the
Hey, you're the man.
We said, "David,
we are working double because of you."
Hey! Hey, you sit down! Sit down!
Real Madrid are
in possession of this publicity machine.
Now Beckham is seen
as a figure of worship in Asia.
The Sun newspaper
sent reporters all over the world
to see if they could find someone
who had not heard of David Beckham.
Beckham! Beckham!
Eventually, they found a person,
or they said they did.
And the one man in the world
who does not know David Beckham?
A shepherd in Chad.
I, on the other hand, more often than not,
I was always the villain.
We have to talk about Spain
because we're here.
- Are you happy here?
- I am.
It's great. David absolutely loves it.
David even answers the phone, "¿Aló?."
So I sat there
I remember doing an interview once
for Spanish Vogue. I did the cover.
And in the interview,
they reported that I hate Spain,
"Because Spain smells of garlic."
I didn't say that.
She says Spain smells like garlic.
Now, if you want to offend
the Spanish,
question the quality of their food.
This was a grievous offense.
Victoria sent shock waves
through Madrid last night
on her first social appearance in Spain.
She ordered
vegetables and fish, but ate almonds
and drank some water.
In a lot of the reports, it was,
"Oh, she hates Spain."
"Oh, she hates Madrid."
She forced a smile
and didn't speak to the press.
It was never about Spain.
We had a family
we had to really think about.
I had two children, Brooklyn and Romeo.
Didn't she?
And this is what nobody
seemed to take into consideration
when I was getting criticized for not
being in Spain right from the beginning.
A kid has to go to school.
I knew I couldn't move to Spain
until I had a school for Brooklyn.
- Yeah, have you cleaned your teeth?
- What?
I was doing Monday
to Friday in London,
and then jumping on a plane to Spain.
And on top of that, we find
her in line at a hamburger restaurant.
But everything I did was fabricated,
taken out of context.
They say she longs for London,
that here in Madrid she doesn't find
the glamour she's used to.
But it was never about Spain.
A new Real Madrid
manager was unveiled today
at the Bernabéu Stadium.
I'd like to express my gratitude
for this opportunity to manage and coach
Real Madrid.
When the invitation
of Real Madrid come to me,
was something amazing,
because I was not even dreaming
that Real Madrid was knocking my door.
It's one of the best clubs in the world.
I was, uh I was shocked.
I was shocked when I heard.
Now I start my Real Madrid career knowing
that I'm playing for a manager
that didn't want me in my last team.
Good afternoon.
It's a special day for David Beckham.
David Beckham makes his debut
in a Real Madrid shirt.
Beckham! Beckham!
So, that first game,
you know, it was a different pressure.
I had that sick feeling in my stomach.
All the fans, crazy, you know?
For them, Real Madrid is
one of the most important things
in their life. It's like a religion.
Real Madrid are obliged to win.
There's a pressure to win, which is crazy.
In the moments leading up to the match,
you try not to get nervous
or unsure of yourself.
You want to be confident,
but everything plays with your mind.
I was thinking, "sh*t."
I'm playing with
all of these great players.
They look like a fantasy league team.
But everybody's looking
to see what David Beckham can do.
Am I gonna be good enough?
That's the moment where you'll say,
"Okay, now I'm gonna judge you."
"I'm gonna see you."
"I'm gonna see
the way you are and everything."
The football papers here
carried up to eight pages of stories
about that man, David Beckham.
Where is he going to fit into this team?
What about your position?
I had no idea
where I was going to play.
Two players
for the same position.
You have a problem.
Queiroz put him to play more behind me,
so he have to
He have to run more for me.
Figo.
There's David Beckham.
Beckham had to do something
he'd never done before,
for England or Manchester United,
to sort of play a bit further back.
That usually means danger.
David Beckham.
Well, look,
I know we're making a film
about David Beckham
and singing his praises, but, I mean
David Beckham.
he couldn't do it.
He's given it back to Eto'o!
Yes!
Samuel Eto'o.
And Mallorca are in front,
and they deserve it.
Absolutely.
David Beckham,
he's been neither here nor there.
Real Madrid rattled.
Time for a double change.
And it's, uh, David Beckham.
He is gonna come off.
It's a strange one,
so early in the second half.
Obviously, the coach, Carlos Queiroz,
feels that they need
to do something about it now.
It takes time to settle in.
Rome was not built in a day.
And it's all over,
and Mallorca triumph.
David, can you sign an autograph
for my boyfriend?
When I played
for Manchester United,
even when I lost games,
even when I wasn't playing well
I knew that I was going home
to my family every night.
Whereas I wasn't going home
to my family in Madrid.
And that was difficult,
to not have my family.
Yeah, I love this song.
This is David's favorite.
- Oh yeah?
- Yeah.
She just didn't want
to sit at home.
She just didn't want
to become a footballer's wife.
No.
So, let's go down
to "rep will be diminished."
And that's what I loved
about her from day one.
I remember being upset
on the phone to Victoria
because I felt lonely.
What about
the rumors that you're not settled?
David was hurting,
so we got, like, a group of friends,
you know, like, to surround David,
to make him feel better.
We let him know that we were there,
un, for whatever he needed.
But I still remember one day,
I see David and Roberto Carlos
eating in the same table.
I thought,
"How can one guy
that doesn't speak English
and another one
that doesn't speak Portuguese or Spanish,
being two hours together, laughing?"
It was about gestures.
He knew exactly what I was saying to him
and vice versa.
I think, after that,
he started to relax, you know?
Something that is sacred is that
you have to be wanted
be loved,
by your teammates.
You have to be
a part of the dressing room.
It's David Beckham's first game
at the Bernabéu before his fans.
I wanted to prove
to the Real Madrid fans
that I was good enough.
But that stadium
it's tough.
It's tough.
It's a complete sellout here today.
And you walk up,
and you're just like,
"Oh my God."
It's very intimidating.
You've seen some great players play there
and they crumble.
He's nervous.
Beckham, the big focus of attention.
So much has been written
and said about him.
Substituted in his previous game.
He lasted less than an hour.
He's been asked
to play more defensive again.
He's played 14 years on the right.
But great players
all have moments in their life
when they find a new dimension.
But one thing he's not
getting at the moment in Spain is time.
They want him to perform right now.
He just needed to relax
because the buck didn't stop with him.
If we win, we win as one.
If we lose, we lose as one.
See near Daddy?
See the guy in the green near Daddy?
Look at how long his hair is.
But having my family there
was a special moment for me.
Then I felt safe.
Mallorca starting to bite back a bit.
David Beckham making up great ground.
Beckham's up to prove a point.
We're just warming up now.
Here's Luís Figo.
Zinedine Zidane.
Okay, now we start to play.
Zidane.
Zidane delivers!
David Beckham trying to get in on that.
Then, all of a sudden,
he start to grow up, he start to grow up.
Beckham now.
With that magic right foot.
Real Madrid are looking hungry.
David Beckham, oh! Superb cross.
And I was in the sideline,
enjoying that ball flying
Beckham.
and land.
Flying and land.
Here's Beckham.
Beckham, looking to turn provider.
Whoo. Behind this pretty face,
wait a minute.
Real Madrid are going to burst away.
He's kept it in.
And Oh, Beckham!
Yes!
You can feel the relief!
David Beckham scores!
He is the man of the moment! Hooray!
Beautiful. Beautiful.
Man of the match.
Superb piece of play. Figo involved in it.
The cross coming in from Ronaldo.
♪ Hearts go astray ♪
♪ Leaving hurt when they go ♪
It is all over. And the big news,
David Beckham scoring
on his home debut.
It was great.
♪ You won't regret ♪
♪ I come back beggin' you ♪
You were off to the races,
winning that
Yeah. Until, you know
Open up your eyes
♪ Then you realize ♪
The Beckhams have marketed
their union as a marriage made in heaven.
But today, that relationship
is under a totally different spotlight.
[dramatic violin music playing
01x03 - Goldenballs
With never-before-seen footage, this docuseries follows David Beckham's meteoric rise from humble beginnings to global football stardom.