David Beckham

How Acquired: Signed by the Galaxy on January 11, 2007.

An MLS All-Star and Best XI selection in 2011, Beckham enjoyed his best season with the club last year, setting a new career-high with 15 assists in MLS play and more than 20 in all competitions. Still one of the best in the world when it comes to crossing the ball or from set pieces, he shows now signs of slowing down as he plays his 20th season as a professional. He re-signed with the club in January 2012, agreeing to return to the Galaxy for two more seasons.

MLS Highlights

2011: Won his first MLS Cup and enjoyed his finest season since joining the Galaxy, tallying a career-best 15 assists in 26 regular season games. He was named to the All-Star Team for a second time while also earning his first berth on the MLS Best XI and being named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year. His 15 assists were the second most in MLS, one fewer than Houston’s Brad Davis, with eight of those coming from set pieces. He had two assists in home wins over San Jose and Vancouver for his first multiassists games in the regular season since April 2008. The Galaxy were 9-1-3 when Beckham recorded and assist and 2-0-0 when he scored a goal, tallying at home against Kansas City in a 4-1 win and at home against Chicago, scoring the game-winning goal direct from a corner kick on 7/9. He also tied a club record with 10 yellow cards on the season, leading to a pair of one game suspensions. He continued his strong form into the postseason, tallying an assist in all four of LA’s games, giving him six assists in his last six playoff games. His first three assists in the MLS Cup Playoffs set up goals for Mike Magee, while three of his four assists came on game-winning goals. 2010: Missed much of the season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon that he suffered while on loan with AC Milan, but managed to come back for the final seven games of the regular season, as well as the postseason. He suffered the injury in March and began training with the Galaxy in August before making his debut as a second half substitute on 9/11 vs. Columbus. That was his first appearance as a sub in MLS since 2007. Beckham made his debut in the starting lineup on 9/24 in a 2-0 loss vs. New York, playing the full 90 minutes. In LA’s next game, on 10/3, he scored his first goal of the season, beating Zach Thornton with a freekick for the eventual game-winning goal in a 2-1 LA road win over Chivas USA. He recorded his first assist four days later, providing the corner kick for Edson Buddle to head home in a 1-0 win at Philadelphia on 10/7. Beckham added his second and final goal of the year late in the first half of the regular season finale against FC Dallas as LA erased a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1, giving the club a 5-2-0 record with Beckham in the lineup. With the Galaxy holding a 1-0 aggregate lead over Seattle heading into the second leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series, Beckham recorded the first multi-assist game of his MLS postseason career, setting up goals from Edson Buddle and Omar Gonzalez from freekicks, helping LA win 2-1 in the second leg of that series for a 3-1 win on aggregate. 2009: Returned to the Galaxy in July after spending the first half of the season on loan with AC Milan. He made his season debut on 7/16, playing 70 minutes in the 3-1 win at New York. He played his first game at The Home Depot Center three days later, tallying two assists in the 2-2 draw with AC Milan. Beckham collected his first MLS assist of the season on 7/25, setting up Landon Donovan’s first half goal in the 1-1 draw at Kansas City. He then scored the Galaxy’s only goal in the 2-1 loss to Barcelona, scoring a freekick late in the first half. On 8/15 vs. Seattle, Beckham was sent off for the first time in his MLS career for a foul on Peter Vagenas. Two weeks later, he scored his first league goal of the season, scoring the game-winner late in a 1-0 win vs. Chivas USA on 8/29, clinching the SuperClasico title for LA. He added an assist in his next game out on 9/12 vs. FC Dallas and then had a goal and an assist in the 2-0 home win over Toronto FC on 9/19. The Galaxy were 7-3-3 after his arrival, earning Beckham his first postseason berth in MLS. In the playoffs, he started all four games, with his freekick in the first half of extratime of the Western Conference Championship vs. Houston leading to Gregg Berhalter’s game-winning goal in the 103rd minute. At MLS Cup, he collected the first postseason assist of his MLS career, setting up Mike Magee’s first half goal against Real Salt Lake. He went on to play the full 120 minutes in that game and converted his penalty kick in the game’s deciding shootout. 2008: In his first full season in MLS, Beckham had a team-best 10 assists to go along with five goals in 25 games. Beckham scored the first goal of his MLS career nine minutes into the home opener against San Jose on 4/3, sending the Galaxy to a 2-0 win. He followed up that goal with the first multi-goal game of his MLS career with a pair of goals in the 2-2 draw at Real Salt Lake on 5/3. Beckham was named the MLS Player of the Week after each of those games and he added goals on 5/24 and 7/4 against Kansas City and New England respectively. He registered his only multi-assist game of the season on 4/19 vs. Houston, setting up a pair of Landon Donovan goals in a 2-2 draw. An MLS All-Star for the first time, he set up the All-Stars’ first goal in the 3-2 win. He missed five games on the season, four because of National Team duty and one because of suspension after collecting six yellow cards. 2007: Arrived in Los Angeles in mid-July after completing his season with Real Madrid. Ankle and knee injuries limited Beckham to just five league appearances and two starts over the second half of the season. After making his Galaxy debut in the friendly against Chelsea on 7/21, he made his MLS debut as a second half substitute on 8/9 at D.C. United. He made his first start for the club six days later in the SuperLiga semifinal against D.C. United, scoring a goal, his first-ever for the club, and adding an assist in the 2-0 Galaxy win. A few days later, he played the full 90 minutes and collected two assists in a 5-4 loss at New York. A knee injury in the SuperLiga Final against Pachuca forced Beckham out after 33 minutes and ruled him out for six weeks before he returned for the final two games of the year.

Career Highlights

2010: Spent a second straight offseason on loan with AC Milan of the Italian Serie A. He joined the club in late December 2009 and was officially added to the roster in January. He made his season debut for the club in a 5-2 win over Genoa on 1/10. He made his Champions League debut for Milan on 2/16 against Manchester United, his first-ever game against his former club. On 3/14, Beckham suffered a torn left Achilles tendon in a game against Chievo Verona, forcing him to miss the rest of the season, as well as the 2010 World Cup. 2009: Spent the offseason on loan in Italy, playing with AC Milan. He joined the club during their winter break in Dubai, making his debut in a friendly against Hamburg. Beckham made his Serie A debut on 1/11 against Roma when he started for Milan in a 2-2 draw. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4-1 win over Bologna at the San Siro before adding another goal four days later in a 1-1 draw against Genoa. He helped the team to a third place finish, ensuring a berth in the Champions League. Beckham also featured for the club in the UEFA Cup, playing both legs of their series with Werder Bremen. 2003-07: Played four years at Real Madrid, helping lead the club to the 2006-07 La Liga title in his final year in Madrid. Beckham played in nearly 150 games in his four years with the club scoring 11 goals in all competitions. He made his La Liga debut against Real Betis in 2003 and scored just three minutes into the contest. He had scored his first-ever goal for the club just days earlier in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, when his late goal gave Real Madrid the trophy. 1991-2003: Spent 12 years at Manchester United, winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cup’s and the 1999 UEFA Champions League while scoring more than 80 goals in almost 300 career appearances. After signing with the club as a trainee in 1991, Beckham made his United debut in September 1992 in a second round Rumbelows Cup match against Brighton and Hove Albion. Later that year he won an FA Youth Cup alongside players like Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt that would form part of the core of great United teams of the future. He scored his first goal for the club in December 1994 in a Champions League match against Galatasaray. After a brief loan spell at Preston North End in 1995 that saw him score twice in five matches, Beckham made his Premier League debut against Leeds United in April 1995. He established himself in the United first team during the 1995-96 season scoring eight times in 40 games while helping United win the Premier League/FA Cup double. He helped United repeat as champions a year later and was named PFA Young Player of the Year for 1996 and finished second in the Player of the Year voting. Two years later he was at the heart of United’s greatest-ever season as he played in a career-high 52 games as his club won the Treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, with United defeating Bayern Munich 2-1 with a pair of late goals, both of which were set up by Beckham. He was named the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in both 1999 and late in 2001 when he helped United win yet another Premiership title. Beckham scored a career-best 16 goals in all competitions during the 2001-02 campaign and went on to win a sixth Premier League championship a year later, in what proved to be his final season in Manchester.

National Team

Has appeared in 115 career games for England, scoring 17 times. On 3/28/09, he claimed his 109th cap, surpassing Bobby Moore for the most England appearances all-time by a field player and the second most in National Team history. He is now just 10 caps shy of Peter Shilton’s England record of 125 caps. More than 50 of Beckham’s caps have come as the England captain, a role that he first claimed under Peter Taylor in November 2000 and held through the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He is the only England player ever to have scored in three separate World Cups (1998, 2002 and 2006) and was just the 21st player in history to have done so. Beckham made his national team debut as a 21-year old on 9/1/96 in a 3-0 win over Moldova. He scored his first England goal with a freekick against Colombia at the 1998 World Cup. In England’s next game, a second round match against Argentina, Beckham was famously sent off as England fell on penalties. He was sent off once again against Austria in November 2005, making him the first England captain ever to receive a red card and the first England player ever to see red twice. In addition to his goal against Colombia, Beckham also scored against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup and against Ecuador in the 2006 World Cup. He missed the 2010 World Cup after suffering an Achilles injury, though he did travel with the team to South Africa. Beckham also appeared in the 2000 and 2004 European Championships, starting all seven of England’s games at those two tournaments.