David Beckham's Latest Challenge

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on March 23, 2008. It was updated on July 9, 2008.

You've probably heard of soccer player David Beckham, but what might surprise you is that with the possible exception of Tiger Woods, the 33-year-old Englishman is the most well-known and well-compensated athlete in the world.

As Anderson Cooper first reported last March, Beckham had spent his career playing in Europe, but last summer began a five-year contract in the United States for a little-known soccer team called the Los Angeles Galaxy. He was hired to win games, and to finally make soccer into a big-time, moneymaking spectator sport in the U.S.

It is a long shot, but as you're about to discover, David Beckham made his name by performing under pressure.

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It was the soccer equivalent of two outs in the bottom of the ninth: with just seconds left against Greece in 2001, David Beckham needed to score to send England's national team to the World Cup finals.

"As soon as I hit the ball, as soon as it left my foot, I knew it was in," Beckham remembers.

Asked how he can know that, Beckham tells Cooper, "I'm sure if you asked Tiger Woods, you know, when he hits a great shot and when he hits the sweet spot, it's the same with soccer. You know, the same when you're takin' a free kick."

That goal solidified Beckham's standing as a soccer legend, but his fame far transcends the sport. With his ever-evolving style, modest demeanor, and wife Victoria, better known as "Posh Spice," he's known around the world. Wherever he goes, he's followed by a traveling scrum of fans and photographers, bodyguards and handlers.

He calls it the "circus."

"When you're asking me about it…I'm sort of, like, yeah, I don't know what to say. It's like, no, I don't see all the fuss," he says.

The "fuss" - part genuine interest, part manufactured hype - has helped turn David Beckham into a one man global brand. He's sold clothes, perfume, phones, pens, sunglasses, and drinks. Recently, when ads for Giorgio Armani underwear debuted, sales jumped 30 percent worldwide.

According to a Beckham source, he earns around $40 million a year from seven current endorsements.

Asked if that interferes with his playing sometimes, Beckham says, "No. Never. That's one thing that I've always be able to keep separate. The commercial things that I do are always set aside. They're always second to my football. And second to, obviously, my soccer, sorry."

"You still say football," Cooper remarks.

"I know. I know. I'm tryin' to get used to it," Beckham replies.

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Photos: "Beckham's Debut"

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There's a lot to get used to for Beckham: compared to the top European leagues, America's Major League Soccer is in its infancy. The league has 14 teams in cities across the country and one in Toronto. It's backed by wealthy investors, but has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since it was founded in 1996.

"So why come to Los Angeles? You've competed for the best teams in the world. Why come here now?" Cooper asks.

"I just felt that I needed a new challenge," Beckham says.

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[sweetlucy110]

do you know he open his blog on a free interracial dating club %uFF08%uFF08%uFF08intimatemingle.com%uFF09%uFF09%uFF09.he must hope his fans go there to support him, but his pics in the blog are reeally good.

[all_bad]

I switched to "Americas Funniest Videos" when soccer stuff came on. Us real men still think soccer is played by ***** little foreigners with funny last names. They have never addressed the problem of 1-0 matches decided by a foul.

[dal0013621]

The segment on David Beckham contained a number of untruths and some typical CBS fabrications.
David Beckham is not the best soccer player in the world. The title is given yearly by FIFA with the Golden Ball award. the present holder is Ricki Kaka, a Brazilian playing for ACMilan.
There was no World Cup in 2001 but England beat Greece for the right to participate in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea.
England, even with David Beckham, did not even qualify for the recently played European Championship played in Switzerland-Austria and won by Spain.
The so-called MSL is not recognized as a major soccer league by FIFA. Every year there is a world championship for clubs, played in Japan between the best club in the Americas and the European Champions'' League champions. This last December ACMilan beat Boca Juniors of Argentina for that title. The LA Galaxie players watched the game on television but did not understand what was going on.
As for the World Cup, there are qualifications games played this year among nations in all continents for the right to participate in the final tournament. Two teams are exempted from the qualifications, the present title holder Italy and the host country South Africa. The US will have to qualify by beating world powers such as Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
Anderson Cooper joins the list of CBS news inventors Dan Rather and Scott Pelley.
SHAME!

[wyobeau]

I enjoyed the segment on Beckham and wish him all the luck over here in the States. I also enjoyed playing intramural soccer in high school and college, but catching a game on TV? No thanks. Its like watching so many flies on a window pane - apparently the participants are really involved. I''ll stick with with the NFL.

[mikziv]

I think that it would be safe to say that when David Beckham was a little boy playing soccer that he played because he loved the game and practiced because he wanted to get better at the game he loved ...and wasn''t practicing because he thought that it would lead to the amount of income that he earns today. What I am leading up to is... all you haters shouldn''t be slamming him because he achieved success, and fame, at the game he loved as a boy (and you didn''t). I am positive that if you were in his shoes and some corporation wanted to throw multi millions of dollars at you to endorse their product (assuming that you actually like the product and it is a quality product) that you would do the same exact thing.
It also appears to me that he loves his wife and she loves him so you haters naturally have to hate him for that too.
He seems like a genuinely nice person to me and it occurs to me that he must have done something right somewhere down the line of his life to be so fortunate. So... stop being jealous and stop hating other people just because their have achieved fame and fortune.

[jbk14]

GO BECKHAM GO

[perkerk]

The biggest problem with Beckham is that he''s an impediment to a really great team. When he''s playing, there''s a hole in the field around him where balls aren''t won and attacking opportunities are lost. On a less than spectacular team, though, he makes a good addition. What''s really unfortunate is that he has the ability to make very long, accurate passes but lacks the vision to see the plays happening in real-time in order to create chances at goal.

George Best (who IS one of the greatest footballers in history) described Beckham well - "He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn''t score many goals. Apart from that he''s all right."

[usbrit-2009]

Posted by larsz

I think Beckham used to be brilliant when he played with Manchester United, but he has been on a slide ever since. As for getting the young stars over here from Europe, remember they''re making top baseball player salaries over there. No-one could afford to pay them that meuch money to play a "second-class" sport over here. One interesting point - I was watching Fulham vs. Newcastle on FoxSoccer this weekend - five of the players participating were Americans - quite a turnaround.

[lauren0211]

Get real, he may be a nice guy and a great soccer player, but it is all about money

[larsz-2009]

i can4t help laughing as i4m reading the comments and and is struck by the ignorance some have when it comes to soccer and beckham as an athlete.
beckham is a fantastic player both on and off the field. But i guess some of you just doesn4t know much about the world outside of the US, except what you might read in people4s magazine.