Giggs was a good dribbler and Rush was great for Liverpool (if I am not mistaken)...Rush's name was actually the only other Welsh player that came to my mind. For some odd reason, almost all games Germany-Wales seemed to end either 5-1 (I think it happened at least twice or three times) or 1-0, but I think we lost 0-2 once. Trying to look it up right now.
Sorry, I forgot about my sig... I lost a bet to Riet regarding Rice and UT baseball. I have to have this sig for 3 months.
See, I don't know, because I don't have exposure to media the world over. The majority of coverage of the Beckhams (and it is almost always as a couple) is not on the sports pages. It is as a "celebrity". He has achieved this status by having various outlandish hairstyles, painting his fingernails pink, wearing a skirt, and marrying a pop star. He is also shameless attaching his image to any product that will give him more than £5. Trust me, if Rodman had played sport in the UK, he would have received huge coverage. On the sports pages in the UK, for example, Wayne Rooney has received easily more attention.
He might be one of them. But to talk about Michael Jackson status is way over the top. The ones I listed receive as much if not more coverage. The "most famous" one is always one that has success. Perhaps you read some of the British press. In Germany, there are many other athletes who receive a lot more press than Beckham does, Germans, obviously, but also others from other sports, like Agassi, etc. In Italy, you will find that people like Del Piero receive more attention...it's logical. It's true, though, that Beckham is quite popular in Asia, so he is one of the most famous ones. But after the World Cup, you can be sure that a hell of a lot more people were talking about Ronaldo and perhaps Oliver Kahn than about Beckham. And if Beckham doesn't bring it in Madrid and is in the shadow of Zidane (which he will be, definitely on the field) and Ronaldo and Raul and perhaps Roberto Carlos, he will not even be the most talked about athlete in Madrid, much less in the world.
I judge most famous athlete in the world based mainly on face recognition. I don't have access to international TV, but wouldn't an American player like Shaq or Kobe be more recognizable than Beckham?
Maybe MJ would have the same recognition, but I doubt it. Even in European countries where basketball is popular (which definitely isn't the UK), it's still second to football (I may be wrong though). You have to remember that Beckham is at least as famous for his image than any sporting performance/achievement.
Brazilian football players usually get nicknames or they pick a name themselves. That was of course not his real name. I think he got the name because he was a pretty smart guy (I think he actually got a Ph.D. degree later and became politically active). He was an elegant midfielder and the captain of Brazil's team in 1982. There was actually a Brazilian guy who named himself "Muller" after the German Gerd Müller, who was his idol - not surprisingly, the Brazilian guy was a forward and wanted to be as successful as the German forward. Gerd Müller scored 68 goals in 62 national team games - nobody else in the world ever had such a percentage on an international level. Gerd Müller still holds the record for most goals scored in World Cup games, but Ronaldo will eventually overtake him (maybe they are tied already). Muller from Brazil didn't quite become as good as his idol, although he even made it to their national team and got to the World Cup. For those who don't know soccer well, scoring 68 goals in 62 national team games is probably comparable to averaging 45 points over the course of your career in the NBA.
No...? I think this happened before...perhaps something is wrong with that feature on the board. Just tried to e-mail you through the board as well.
Neither Shaq nor Kobe nor MJ are even close to the popularity of football players in the rest of the world. During the peak of his career, a Maradona would have blown MJ away easily when you look at recognition in the whole world. MJ is the one that comes closest, though.
good stuff guys. It seems like most people here would say Beckam is even bigger than MJ. Which would mean I should definately try to get his autograph. If he's that big it should hold it's value even when he retires. I didn't know much about him until this year. But he sounds' like a great player that people will remember for a long time. Has he had any great goals or historic moments like MJ?
He really isn't that great of a player. He'll be about the 5th best player on his new team (Real Madrid).
Beckham is a good player, but far from great. He has charisma and looks, which is why he is so popular. During the WC last year, Beckham sported a mohawk look, that was imitated by 4 other players, as well as by 1000s of Japanese kids. In short, any thing Beckham does off the field, is imitated. "Be like Mike" is nothing close to Beckham's influence on society. I can't think of an athlete who starts fashion trends like Beckham. In short, he's very popular, but on the field isn't more than good to very good.
Agreed. Zidane compared to Beckham is MJ compared to Steve Kerr. If you know anything about football and see how Zidane treats the ball...even though he is French, I have to admit that is probably about as elegant as it gets on the football field. PhiSlammaJamma, he had some nice free kick goals and he is one of the best in the world at "curvy lob passes" (perhaps Bailey as the native speaker could help me out with the right word here, is it just "crosses" or is there something more descriptive?) from the right side which the forwards can convert, plus, he seems to have developed into a bit of a "clutch player" (I remember he saved England's neck on a free kick once in the last minute or so), but as Bailey said, he might be the 5th best player on Real. Also, Beckham has problems when someone plays him really aggressively. Lizarazu from Bayern gives him fits anytime they play each other because he is faster and tougher.
