David Beckham

Date of Birth: May. 2, 1975

Height: 1.82 m

Born in Leytonstone, East London, David Beckham is the son of Ted Beckham, a kitchen fitter, and Sandra West, a hairdresser.

Beckham was Manchester United fan from a very early age. He used to play football for hours when he was a kid. At the age of 11, he won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills Award. Winner of the 1992 F.A. Youth Cup and runner-up a year later, Beckham was finally signed as a professional United player in January 1993 and played his first professional game for Manchester when he was 18.

He became a first team regular in the 1996-1997 season as a right midfielder. During that season, he was compared to Pele when he scored his most famous goal -- from the halfway line against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.

He made 394 appearances and scored 85 goals with Manchester United, and in 2003 he was traded to Real Madrid for 23 million Euros (about 26.91 U.S. dollars), making him only the third Englishman to play for the team. He also has been the captain of the English National team, and he is the first Englishman to score in three separate World Cup tournaments.

In 2007, he signed a five-year contract to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy. This deal includes up to 10 million U.S. dollars a year in direct salary, and with merchandising endorsements and profit-sharing could earn Beckham up to 50 million U.S. dollars a year, and may end up worth about 250 million U.S. dollars in five years, making him one of the highest earning athletes of all time.

His wife is singer Victoria Beckham from the popular group Spice Girls. Their wedding took place at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland, on July 4, 1999. Now they have three sons.