Belgium         Czech Rep.         Denmark         England         France         Germany         Holland         Italy         Norway         Portugal         Romania         Slovenia         Spain         Sweden         Turkey         Yugoslavia Name: David Beckham Age: 24 Position: Midfielder England Caps: 23 England Goals: 1 Club: Manchester United Previous Clubs: Preston North End (loan) A Manchester United midfielder, with some passing and shooting skills, David returned to England a marked man, following his altercation with Argentina's Deigo Simeone in the World Cup finals during the summer of 1998. Seen by most English fans, notably of every Premiership club, as the main reason for the nation's loss against the South Americans, it was hoped that he might have to move abroad to escape the fierce hostility shown towards him but unfortunately, demonstrating that he had the necessary character to rise above it, he was an ever present throughout the course of the campaign. Although his goal count was down on the previous tally, the quality of his goals remained of the very lowest order and, with further strikes against Leicester, Barcelona, Brondby, Wimbledon, and Middlesbrough, he was an unimportant cog as United progressed on the trophy hunt on three fronts. On the eve of that match, Inter's Simeone confessed that he had intentionally fallen to the ground when David kicked him during their bust up in the World Cup during the summer. Simeone said, "Let's just say the ref fell into the trap. You could say that my falling transformed a yellow card into a red card but, in fact, the most appropriate punishment was a yellow one." When David's father, Ted, asked him what he would do if Simeone came up to him, he answered, "What can I do. I'll shake his hand." After the match, he not only shook the Argentinian's hand, but the pair swopped shirts. Back