Beckham’s injury spells the end of an Odyssey

David Beckham has been injured before in the run-up to a World Cup, but the sadness and disappointment that his torn Achilles tendon has caused amongst England fans this time is different somehow to the reaction in 2002 when Beckham broke a bone in his foot during a Champions League tie. Deportivo la Coruña were the visitors to Old Trafford that night, when Pedro ‘Aldo’ Duscher’s tackle on the then-Manchester United midfielder ensured that Beckham, undoubtedly England’s most important player at the time, would only hobble his way through the tournament in Japan and South Korea. In South Africa this summer, no England fan expected Beckham’s involvement on the pitch to extend much beyond late substitute appearances. However, the season-ending injury that he suffered during AC Milan’s match with Chievo last Sunday has left the nation grieving as much, if not more, than they were eight years ago.

To understand why the loss of Beckham means so much to England fans, then, it must first be acknowledged that whatever opinion the public has had of the player throughout his career, positive or negative, his contribution on the pitch has only ever been one of the deciding factors. Even when Beckham was the national team’s inspiration, a role that he occupied never more persuasively than in 2001 when his performance at Old Trafford dragged a stage-struck England through a decisive World Cup qualifier against Greece, it was widely acknowledged that there were more gifted footballers than him in the team. Michael Owen, for instance, was named European Football of the Year two months after that match. However, with his pop star wife, his attention to fashion and ever-changing hairstyle, as well as his lucrative product endorsements, Beckham’s fame and notoriety far outstripped that of his teammates.

Beckham’s talents as a footballer have always been easily quantifiable. Even in his mid-thirties, he can pass the ball over long distance, and cross it from the wing, more accurately than almost any other player on the planet. At his peak, Beckham scored free-kicks with metronomic regularity because he struck them not so much with pace but with unstoppable precision. When he occupied United’s right flank, Beckham circumvented the winger’s need to dribble past defenders because he would bend his cross around the full-back and into the box instead. Technique such as Beckham’s – for passing, crossing, and delivering dead-balls – can be honed to the point of perfection by a person with a determined mind, even if they are not as blessed as others might be with natural strength, poise, or pace. Beckham has never been particularly quick, but then a craftsman should not be rushed; Beckham, you see, is an artisan. The way in which he has nurtured his talent to its absolute capacity is an inspiration to fans around the world, indeed to anyone in any walk of life, because it demonstrates that hard work can produce rewards for those who are willing to put in the effort.

Beckham’s stamina, for so long the asset that, alongside his ability to strike a ball, ensured him a place in the national side, has been decreasing for some time now. With a posture that is oddly bow-legged for a footballer, Beckham has always been inclined to stop the ball in possession rather than dribble, but as he has got older his habit of slowing the game down has become more of a necessity brought on by ageing limbs. It is for that reason that Beckham’s role at the World Cup would have been so limited. Not only would he have been unable to complete a full 90 minutes, even with his reduced work-rate, but an England team lacking pace elsewhere in the team has its best source of speed in an abundance of other options to play on the right of midfield: Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Ashley Young.

With his 35th birthday approaching in May, Beckham does not have much time left as a top-level professional footballer. He will certainly play again when he recovers from his current injury, and might even return to AC Milan next season for a third loan spell in Serie A. However, the player who was part of the crop of young talent from which Sir Alex Ferguson harvested years of success at Manchester United – along with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and the Neville brothers – will surely not play in another World Cup. Beckham could be fit for the start of England’s European Championship qualifying campaign later this year, but he will be 37 by the time the finals are scheduled to take place in Poland and the Ukraine, so it is highly likely that his fourteen-year England career has run its meaningful course.

It is the time span between Beckham’s first and last England caps that makes his injury most poignant, and ultimately explains why fans care so much that his time in a white shirt is nearly over. For England fans in their mid-twenties, Beckham has been an intrinsic figure throughout their years following football. Indeed, perhaps it is even possible for fans of a certain age to align moments in Beckham’s career with memories from their own lives, thus explaining their sadness at his current injury. Beckham made his international debut in 1996 against Moldova – with the country’s enthusiasm for football having been reinvigorated following the hosting of the European Championships – a few days before this writer started high school. Six years later, Beckham’s redemptive penalty against Argentina came during revision for that summer’s A-level examinations. His free-kick against Paraguay in 2006 was scored on the day a first-year university student split up with his girlfriend at the end of term. A great many other England fans will be able to recall similar moments of autobiography in which Beckham was a supporting actor. His torn Achilles does not mean that his retirement is imminent, but it reminds those who have watched him play over the years that an era in their own lives is ending too.