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Beckham tour leaves U.S. in wake, sets sale for Spain

And so the long-running David Beckham saga has reached its end. For now, at least. The Manchester United icon is headed to Real Madrid, concluding a profoundly strange fortnight in which American soccer journalists -- yes, there is such a thing -- played our own little role.

See, Becks spent most of the past two weeks in the U.S., where he conducted a couple of American-style interviews, sitting down for one-on-one conversations, minus the hovering PR flacks and pre-publication approval that he's accustomed to in Europe. And that's just when he deigns to speak. For European journos, poor souls, getting an interview with Beckham is about as hard as scheduling an audience with the Pope.

The result: At a time when Europe is clamoring for a few real words from Becks -- and not some prefabricated press release -- the only outlets he's talking to are ... Sports Illustrated and the Los Angeles Times?

Over the years I've grown accustomed to the bizarre parallel universes of world soccer and American sports, in which events that convulse most countries are reduced to agate type in U.S. sports pages -- or, worse, no coverage at all. It's a sad fact of life for the small but proud minority of Yank soccer fans -- even my own magazine hasn't given as much coverage to the sport as it should.

So imagine my amusement now that the usual arrangement has been turned on its head. Ever since my hour-long interview with Beckham on May 28, my phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from the British media. (Please, guys, give it a rest.) I've seen Beckham on ABC's 20/20, CBS' morning show and the MTV Movie Awards. Then on Monday the ultra-serious New York Times ran an editorial -- not a sports column, an editorial -- on the Beckham mediathon.

Anyway, check out my story in this week's SI on the Beckham phenomenon and why Man U would want to get rid of a British national treasure. (Hint: $$$.) There's also a sweet photo spread (Beckham spent two hours posing for ace photog Howard Schatz) and some revealing quotes from Man United coach Sir Alex Ferguson.

Some general conclusions based on my short time with Becks: 1) Once you've negotiated the PR fortress surrounding him, he's an affable, down-to-earth guy; 2) He really does like his notoriety. ("I enjoy the fame," he says. "Who wouldn't?"); and 3) It's a shame he won't be playing in the U.S. next month.

After all, Beckham's move to Real means he won't be part of Man United's four-game tour of America. Suddenly, the tour has a lot less buzz. When I spoke with him about it three weeks ago, Becks seemed genuinely excited about the prospect of increasing his profile in the only land that the Man U monolith hasn't already conquered.

Oh, there was a time, he admits, when he didn't want to be recognized in America. The year was 1998, he was the Most Hated Man in England and he needed a place to hide. Within hours of returning to London following his World Cup ejection and England's loss to Argentina, Beckham hopped the Concorde to soccer's Siberia. To New York City and the arms of his Spice Girl fiancee.

Ignored by Gothamites, he strolled along Fifth Avenue in a Chicago Bulls jersey. Anonymity was bliss.

"It was a surreal moment, really," Beckham told me. "In London I got hassled all the way down to the aircraft. There were film crews and cameramen following me, saying things like, Do you think you've let your country down? Being in New York was an escape. The Spice Girls were massive over here, but it was easy for me to walk the streets and think about what had gone on."

Five years later, Beckham was back in New York, sitting comfortably in a Manhattan photo studio. He had the urban chic thing going: a red vintage VINCENNES UNIVERSITY T-shirt, droopy gray Ecko sweatpants, unlaced Adidas trainers, matching seven-carat diamond earrings and a giant-faced five-time-zone watch he'd bought the day before with his wife, Victoria (the former Posh Spice), and Elton John.

Outside, a half-dozen sunburned paparazzi -- a school of red snappers -- were lurking, cameras dangling from their necks, sweat dripping from their brows, waiting for the Money Shot. Waiting (three hours!) for Posh 'n Becks.

Inside, past the fortified security, behind a heavy door, Beckham sat facing a mirror. This trip Stateside was different for him, he explained. He wasn't anonymous anymore. "I was walking around Soho yesterday, and I felt as if I had something on my head. People were actually looking at me," he said. "There were American people coming up and saying, 'Hey David, see you in the summer.' It meant a lot."

He found no small amount of serendipity in the surprise popularity of the film Bend It Like Beckham. "People are probably saying, 'So who is this Beckham?'" he said. "It gives me a push that I probably need here. I thought it was a good film, but to do well in America it's got to be something special."

Would Beckham have been special enough (had he come next month) to cross over to America? Would he have joined the vanguard of Cool Britannia -- the likes of Coldplay, Tony Blair and the Mini car -- by carving a credible niche here?

Most Britons I spoke with were skeptical. Nick Hornby, the novelist/soccer nut, had this take: "I don't think it can go too far over there without the oxygen of competitive football. In the end, all the hoopla is still rooted in his talent, and you guys will never see it properly until you find a way of getting the big clubs to play proper club football over there. Even international football isn't the same, because club football has now surpassed it in terms of quality and importance. That won't happen during his career."

Ellis Cashmore, the Staffordshire University professor who has written a book on the Beckham phenomenon, more or less agreed: "My view, for what it's worth, is that it's not going to happen. American audiences are going to look at [Posh and Becks] and say, 'Oh my god, isn't that the Spice Girl that we all forgot about, like, seven years ago? Is she still around? And this time she's hawking her husband trying to sell him!' It's a gamble from their point of view. The risk is they will be ridiculed."

Still, Beckham was realistic about his chances. He wasn't going to be the second coming of the Beatles, of course. The hope, rather, was that he might make the same modest imprint as his eponymous movie, that he might become a sleeper hit. "I know it's going to hard to be recognized as much as I am in most places," Beckham told me. "But even a slight bit would be nice."

Now we'll have to wait -- at least until Real Madrid embarks on its own American tour. Come to think of it, with Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and now Beckham, maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea.

B-side nuggets from SI's Beckham interview

Keep in mind two things:

1) Because we spoke on May 28 (before Man U had even announced its now torn-up agreement with Barcelona), Beckham didn't have much to say about his future in Manchester beyond the usual boilerplate about him being happy with his contract with the club.

2) The SI story has the best stuff from Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson, quotes you won't see below. There were a few intriguing tidbits, though:

On his relationship with Ferguson: "With any boss you have your ups and downs, but I've always had sort of a father-son relationship with him. I've been at the club since I was 14 years old, and I've grown up with Alex Ferguson. Without him I wouldn't be the player and person I am these days. He had the courage to put me and three or four young players into the team when there was probably a lot of pressure on him. I owe him for that."

On British critics who lampoon his supposed lack of intelligence: "Of course I'm not the most intelligent person around, and I know that. I've gotten used to people saying my voice is too high or I don't say the right words, things like that. Sometimes Victoria says, 'Why do they say this about you?' But it doesn't bother me one bit."

On his goals for American fame: "I'm quite big in Europe and Japan and places like that, but no one's really done it big in America on the soccer scene, especially from teams in Europe. And it just interests me. It would be important for me to do something over here and be recognized in a country like America."

On the single most painful moment of his 1998 ordeal: "The thing that hurt the most was how my family got harassed. The press even bugged my mum and dad's phones. He was saying things that were coming out in the papers, and he couldn't understand why. Then he realized at the bottom of the street where they lived there was a white van with a big dish on the top."

On how often his fame becomes overwhelming: "It only becomes a problem when I'm out with the children and they're getting upset with it. There have been a couple times when we've been pushed and shoved about when I've had the children in my arms. That's the only time it becomes an intrusion. Other than that, I accept that it's part and parcel of being us and being famous. Because you put yourself out there. At the start of your career you needed the media. When you've got to this level, you can't all of the sudden turn around and say it's an intrusion. Of course there are times when it is, but you've got to accept it and get on with it."

On his recently removed cornrows: "I'm definitely going to do it again at some point, but I had to take them out because I hadn't washed it for a week. It was starting to hurt a little bit as well."

On the decision-making that leads to a new hairstyle: "It's just sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing. It's not something I do and think, 'I'm going to go out and get photographed like this because I want people to notice me.' I just do it because sometimes I wake up in the morning and think, 'I'll try that and do something different.'"

On the reaction of his younger sister and mother, both hairdressers, to his manifold 'dos: "Most of my hairstyles they like. My mom didn't like the Mohican. It's funny. Looking back on it, I'm thinking, 'Why did I do that?' I see pictures now and I turn to Victoria and say, 'Was that a mistake?'"

On how many kids he and Victoria plan on having: "Well, Victoria can't hear me now. Four or five. But realistically I'd like at least three or four. I'd like to be a big family."

On where he sees himself in 10 years, when he'll be 38: "I won't be playing football in 10 years. I'll hopefully be watching [4-year-old] Brooklyn play football. A lot can happen in 10 years. I've said I would love to be playing in the World Cup when I'm 35 years old, which is two World Cups' time. World Cups are such a big thing."

And there you have it. Best of luck to Becks in Madrid, and we look forward to welcoming you on your next American adventure.

I'll be back next week with a return to your usual U.S. soccer programming. Send any questions about the Confederations Cup, MLS and WUSA here.

Have a great week!

Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl keeps you up to date with the world of U.S. soccer at SI.com. To send Wahl a comment, question or story idea, click here.

 

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