David Beckham's Latest Challenge

CNN's Anderson Cooper Profiles The Soccer Superstar

(CBS)  "You have the potential, with incentives and bonuses, and endorsements to make around $50 million a year. Is that accurate?" Cooper asks.

"Apparently," Beckham replies, laughing.

"And it's also been said that after five years you can make as much as $250 million," Cooper remarks.

"I heard that as well," Beckham says.

Beckham doesn't like to talk about money. He grew up in a working-class section of northeast London. A soccer prodigy, he first appeared on television at age 11. By 14, he'd signed a contract with England's most famous team, Manchester United. At 21, he became a household name, stunning soccer fans with a 57-yard goal, one of the longest in the history of the sport.

Beckham has never claimed to be the best soccer player in the world, but he can be one of the most exciting to watch. He's known not just for scoring, but for passing; an offensive mid-fielder, he tries to set his teammates up to score.

While his career has been marked by stunning victories, there've also been very public failures. In 1998, Beckham was ejected from the World Cup for a kick against an opposing player. England lost the match against rivals Argentina and was eliminated from the tournament. Almost everyone in England blamed it on Beckham. His family was harassed, and he received death threats.

"There was a sort of dummy of me with an England shirt on, with a noose around, hung up outside a pub in England," Beckham remembers.

Asked if the English take soccer too seriously, Beckham tells Cooper, "I'm not sure I'd say they take it too seriously. But, you know, sometimes it oversteps the mark. Like I played in European championships two years later, and as I was walking off the pitch, some England fans shouted up, 'I hope your child dies of cancer.'"

Beckham's reaction? He gave them the finger.

"It was reported at the time of me just being, you know, my petulant self. Until the actual truth came out about what people had shouted at me," Beckham says.

Vilified by the press, and under police protection, Beckham persevered, eventually winning back the fans, and becoming captain of England's national team.

"When you have so much criticism thrown at you, you either go one way or the other. You either just sit in the corner and cry or you come out fighting. And I've always been able to come out fighting," Beckham says.

His weapon of choice is his right foot. With it, he's able to bend the soccer ball around or over opponents. On the Galaxy’s home field, he gave 60 Minutes a rare look at how he does it.

"It's literally findin' the right place. And keepin' it there," Beckham explains.

"Are you looking at the net at all?" Cooper asks.

"I literally stand here, take one look at the goal keeper and then just concentrate on the ball, because I know that if you put it in the spot, the exact spot where you want it, there's no way the goal keeper's gonna get there," Beckham explains.

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Watch as David Beckham shows off his technique.

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It's easy when there is no one blocking the goal perhaps, so we decided to build a wall - the same kind of wall Beckham faces when he does a real free kick.

"It's always at an angle. That's the way, you know, the wall is always lined up," Beckham explains.

"[Do you] Try to bend the ball around them or over it?" Cooper asks.

"You either bend it around them or you bend it over them. But the wall is good because it's as close to a game situation as you can get," Beckham explains, before proceeding to strike several of his characteristic free-kicks into the net.