Beck to the beginning

One of the most decorated sporting stars on the planet, tomorrow night will go back in time to where it all began. The theatre of dreams, a place steeped in many footballing fairytales will open its doors once again to welcome home one of its favourite sons. David Beckham is back on Manchester turf, but this time he will be pitting his wits against the club he dearly loved as a boy and still does. Now donning the famous rossonari colours of AC Milan in his second loan spell with the Italian giants, the midfielder will come face to face with Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side on English soil, hoping to overturn the current aggregate score of 3-2 in the red devils favour in the last 16 of Europe’s premier competition.

Now in the apex of his career, seven years on from when he was a Manchester United player, the England international will knew only too well that these sort of matches do not come around very often and he along with his ageing Milan team mates will want one last pot shot at the big time.

After jetting in from Italy earlier today, a media frenzy awaited Beckham, with flashing cameras, over-eager journalists and batches of security marking a typical Beckham esc star studded arrival. In the pre match press conference, the global icon told a glut of press reporters he is excited, but not nervous about his return ‘home’. It’s not surprising. This match is probably just another milestone in Beckham’s career scrapbook, which has seen him go from hero to zero during the 1998 World Cup, become England Captain and all but single handidly win the La Liga title for Real Madrid in his final season in the Spanish capital.


The England star is mobbed by press and fans alike after jetting in at Manchester Airport.

With Milan staring defeat in the face, following a Wayne Rooney masterclass at the San Siro, the stage is set for a Beckham performance of some sort. The sort is what we do not know. Adrenaline and blood pressure will be riding high, but does the Manchester returnee have enough fuel left in the flailing tank, along with his peers to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and produce one of the great champion’s league comebacks. I suspect not, purely on the grounds of too much underlining damage appears to have been constructed in the first leg against his side in terms of away goals conceded, but it would be hard not to bet against a bit of Beckham magic turning a few heads tomorrow.

Many have criticised the private life of Ac Milan’s number 32 during his career, the off-field drama and whether he still deserves a place in Fabio Capello’s England outfit but what is unquestionable is the level of professionalism in which he conducts himself with on the football pitch and the obsession that courses through him to play his first love, football.

Whatever happens under the Old Trafford floodlights tomorrow night, nothing will de-rail the impact David Beckham has made on football and the true gentleman he is. Few can boast of a more successful career or for that matter a more successful life. Hats off to the man, and one just hopes he can have one last moment in the sun...