I'm a huge Beckham fan; great player, fabulous penalties, good human being, hates Clifford - what's not to like?

Not going to the World Cup. Poor thing. He will be there of course as a spectator, after all every tv network will want him there as a commentator. Hes got a house in Clifton/Camps Bay area .Went to a SA Township a few years back and was asked many times if we knew David Beckham. They really love him there. Think this is due to the charitable work he is involved with along with other footballers. Man Utd have had projects running in the townships for years.



news.bbc.co.uk/sport

As the BBC reporter said, Beckham would have spent most of the World Cup on the subs bench anyway, so his absence will have limited impact on England's chances. Now that he's unlikely to be available it frees a place for a younger, fitter and sharper player who can actually make a difference. Beckham's image has always been far greater than his ability.

He used to be like a spoilt brat at his own birthday party when he insisted on taking every single free kick for England - usually ballooning all of them high and wide until finally getting one on target and being declared a genius for doing so! But I guess he's handled himself far better then most of his contemporaries would have done with the same relentless exposure, and I hope he recovers better than expected from the surgery - that's a nasty injury that often leaves you snail-paced.

Beckham was one of the greatest footballing icons of the 21st century. However been an icon isn't going to help win football games. He has been mainly a passenger in recent England games and he is still dining out on his wonder goal against Greece in 2001. He has shown very little loyalty towards L.A Galaxy or AC Milan. In the recent Milan cup tie with Man Utd, all we heard from Beckham was how great Man U were, what about your own team Beckham, Milan!!!
As for commentating on the world cup, Beckham is to commentating what Cyril Smith is to Ballet dancing.

Fucking tragic. His last chance to play in a world cup. A legend. I for one am very saddened.

Let's see if Terry, Lampard, Gerrard etc' can step up to the plate and give their all for their country as Becks did.

I'm not entirely confident.

Personally I always felt Gerrard and Lampard were being held back when Beckham was captain and dominating all the dead ball situations, so in my opinion those two will flourish now without him.

The media adoration of Beckham was summed up when he took a corner and Sol Campbell scored a goal by managing to dodge the defenders and rise to head the ball into the net. The commentators said that England were now ahead following a wonderful corner from David Beckham. No mention of poor Sol Campbell.

Later on a TV pundit referred to how Beckham had skillfully found the head of Sol Campbell. This suggests that he aimed the ball directly at Sol Campbell's head and was spot on target. In fact all he'd done was get the ball into the penalty box, as thousands of other players do. Sol Campbell was the one who showed the skill by working his way to the ball ahead of all the others.

And that awful pitch which caused Beckham's penalty to rise into the clouds!! No mention of how he'd scuffed up soil when taking it, or how every other player who took a penalty after him had managed to get theirs on target.

His famous goal against Greece came after several other failed attempts from the same spot. Give any other player umpteen chances to get the ball on target and they eventually will.

I don't doubt his passion or love for his country, but I think it's an insult to the memory of Bobby Moore to keep bring someone on the pitch a few minutes before the final whistle purely so that they can beat Moore's record of England caps. At least Moore earned his through playing full games, not to mention actually captaining England to a World Cup win. Beckham's record is pitiful next to Bobby Moore's.

I also remember one pundit saying how Beckham had scored 35 out of 50 free kicks, while Matt Le Tissier had scored 49 out of 50 free kicks over the same period. Beckham was a good looking pin up, but Le Tissier wasn't. Plus Le Tissier only played for Southampton, so he hardly got a look into the England squad.

The good news is that Beckham is now out of the squad and a decent player can win a cap which would otherwise have been wasted.