Former England captain David Beckham turns 42 today. Beckham, who began his career with Manchester United in 1993, scored 111 goals in his club career and 17 goals for England.
The Englishman has been part of six Premier League winning teams. Beckham was also part of the Champions League winning team in 1998-99.
The Quint takes a look at the top five goals scored by Beckham during the course of his career.
1. Beckham Takes England to the World Cup
England had to draw against Greece in the World Cup qualifier match to book a place in the 2002 World Cup. The Three Lions were running out of time as they were trailing 1-2 in the 93rd minute.
Beckham had tried everything by then, but he just couldn’t find the back of the net nor could his teammates.
Then came the moment. England were given a free-kick at the edge of the box. Beckham put his hand up and struck the ball in the top left corner to take England to the World Cup.
2. Halfway Line Goal Against Wimbledon
The 21-year-old David Beckham announced his arrival into the football world with a spectacular goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon in 1996.
When Beckham received a pass near the halfway line, he noticed that the Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was standing a long way from his post.
Beckham took his chance and struck the ball into the goal.
3. Beckham’s Goal From the Corner
Beckham continued to mesmerise the football world even after he moved from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy. The spot-kick specialist curved the ball into the goal while taking a corner against Metapan in the CONCACAF Champions League game in 2012.
LA Galaxy, who were trailing 0-1 in the 17th minute, eventually routed Metapan 5-2.
4. Classy Finish Against West Ham
The then Manchester United star, Beckham lobbed the ball perfectly over the West Ham goalkeeper, David James from 18 yards to make it 1-1 in the 2002 Barclays Premier League game.
The match turned out to be a thriller when Frederic Kanoute put West Ham in the lead a few minutes later.
But, the Red Devils eventually won the game by a scoreline of 5-3 with Beckham scoring a penalty in the dying minutes of the match.
5. The Everton Free-Kick
Everton was leading 1-0 against Manchester United in the Premier League game in 2003. Then, Beckham came to the rescue and scored a mesmerising free-kick to level the score just before half-time.
The Englishman struck the ball above all defenders near the left post. The Everton goalkeeper had no chance to save it.
Manchester United won the game 2-1 and ended the season in style.
(The article has been republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of David Beckham’s 42nd birthday. It was originally published on 2 May 2016.)
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