Beckham much more than a pretty face

Leading your country to the World Cup quarter-finals and helping your club win the English title would not be considered a bad season's work by any player.

But David Beckham has achieved all this with England and Manchester United despite the fact "he is no longer in the soccer world", according to France captain Marcel Desailly.

Desailly believes the 28-year-old Beckham is now "an integral part of show business", but while the midfielder may be the most bankable man in the world's most popular game the facts suggest the Chelsea defender is firing seriously wide of the mark.

In fact, Beckham is regarded as one of the hardest working players in the game, hours of practice rewarded by the pinpoint passing and ruthless free-kicks he regularly produces.

He is not blessed with the lightning pace of a Ronaldo or an Owen but Beckham's stamina is beyond question.

ONE-MAN SHOW

Experts calculated that he covered over 16 kilometres in the one-man show he served up in securing England's World Cup place with a 2-2 draw against Greece in 2001 and that was by no means unusual.

Steve McClaren, his former coach at United and England, said only a man who lived an exemplary lifestyle could regularly produce such displays.

"The one thing I would say is that to be that fit, your lifestyle has to be perfect," McClaren said in an interview with The Observer recently.

"You cannot survive on burgers and chips. His performances show that he leads an exemplary lifestyle and that is something many people have questioned over the years. I don't know how you can question it now."

Beckham himself laughs off suggestions that he has sold out to the showbiz luvvies and lives under the Posh Spice thumb. "It's a nice thumb to be under anyway," he jokes.

Generally, though, Beckham has kept his own counsel while the papers variously describe him as a shopoholic or hen-pecked husband and, doubtless worse in his eyes, a prima donna footballer.

Meanwhile, the headlines keep coming.

TOP ATTRACTION

Twelve months ago the foot injury that threatened to rule him out of the World Cup dominated the news and his profile rocketed even higher at the tournament as Japanese schoolgirls made him comfortably their number one foreign attraction.

Since then Beckham's face has appeared regularly on the front pages during a year in which he became the world's best-paid player with an annual income of 10.5 million pounds ($16.86 million) through wages and endorsements.

In August, Beckham led a national tribute to two murdered schoolgirls, while in November five men were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap Victoria.

In February, he was described as a global phenomenon, a chosen one and a sporting messiah by academics at a British University, and in recent weeks the papers have been awash with stories about his impending 40 million-pound ($64.24 million) transfer to Real Madrid.

In between these distractions, Beckham has continued to do what he does best.

He has played nearly 50 matches for Manchester United, scoring 10 goals to help his team win their eighth premier league title in 11 seasons.

He has also captained England five times since their World Cup defeat by Brazil, finding the net four times and leading his country to the top of the Euro 2004 Group Seven qualifying standings.

Controversially left on the substitutes' bench by United manager Alex Ferguson for two vital matches last month, Beckham refused to complain.

TWO GOALS

He missed out completely on the 2-2 premier league draw at arch-rivals Arsenal but came off the bench to score the two goals that helped secure a thrilling 4-3 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.

Widely reported to have stormed off at the end of the Real Madrid match to demand showdown talks with his agent about leaving Old Trafford, Beckham said nothing until he quietly issued a statement this week saying he wanted to stay at United.

Good news for the club he has played for nearly 400 times since 1992 but no real surprise. Beckham's situation is neatly summed up by the introduction to his profile on United's official website.

"Playing for the team he always supported, captaining his country, being married to a pop star, being an idol to men and women around the world -- it must be tough being David Beckham," it reads.