former England captain David
Beckham has announced that he
will end his playing career at the
end of the season.

The 38-year-old last week won
the Ligue 1 title with current club
Paris Saint-Germain to add to the
Premier League, La Liga and MLS
winners' medals he claimed with
Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy. As such, he
became the first Englishman to
win league championships in four
different countries. "I'm thankful to PSG for giving me
the opportunity to continue but I
feel now is the right time to finish
my career, playing at the highest
level,'" Beckham said in a
statement released on Thursday. "If you had told me as a young
boy I would have played for and
won trophies with my boyhood
club Manchester United, proudly
captained and played for my
country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the
biggest clubs in the world, I would
have told you it was a fantasy.
I'm fortunate to have realised
those dreams." Beckham won 115 caps for
England, surpassing World Cup-
winning skipper Bobby Moore and
setting a new record for an
outfield player. He captained his
country at two World Cups and a European Championship while
wearing the armband between
2000 and 2006. "To this day, one of my proudest
achievements is captaining my
country," Beckham said. "I knew
every time I wore the Three Lions
shirt, I was not only following in a
long line of great players, I was also representing every fan that
cared passionately about their
country. "I'm honoured to represent
England both on and off the
pitch... I want to thank all my
team-mates, the great managers
that I had the pleasure of
learning from. I also want to thank the fans who have all
supported me and given me the
strength to succeed." Beckham made his debut for
United, the team he supported as
a child, in 1992 after graduating
out of the club's academy and
winning the FA Youth Cup as part
of a much-vaunted side that also included future team-mates Ryan
Giggs, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt. During his 11 years as a
professional at Old Trafford,
Beckham won six Premier League
titles, two FA Cups and the
Champions League in 1999,
putting in the corners which led to both of his team's late goals in
the dramatic 2-1 final victory
over Bayern Munich. By this time, Beckham was
already an established England
international and a one of the
world's most famous sportspeople.
That fame became notoriety at
the 1998 World Cup when he was sent off in the second round
clash against Argentina for
tripping midfielder Diego Simeone.
England lost the match on a
penalty shootout, and Beckham
returned to a hostile welcome from many fans in his home
country. Beckham soon won the nation
over once more, however, and in
2000 he was appointed
permanent England captain by
new manager Sven-Goran
Eriksson. He helped his country reach the 2002 World Cup with a
memorable performance in the
final qualifier against Greece,
when his stunning late free-kick
sealed a 2-0 win over Greece
which sent England to the finals in Japan and South Korea. Beckham
scored a penalty against
Argentina to lay memories of four
years earlier to rest, but England
exited in the last eight after
defeat to Brazil. After falling out with United
manager Sir Alex Ferguson he
was sold to Real Madrid in 2003,
where he played alongside
legendary players such as
Zinedine Zidane, Raul and Luis Figo. Beckham had to wait until
the last of his four years at the
Bernabeu before winning the
Primera Division title in 2007, a
year after he had stood down as
England captain following yet another exit at the quarter-final
stages of a major tournament,
this time to Portugal at the 2006
World Cup. He then shocked the world by
announcing he would be moving
to the United States to join MLS
franchise Los Angeles Galaxy. The midfielder used his worldwide
fame to boost interest in football
in the US, and helped the Galaxy
claim the MLS Cup in 2011 and
retain the title a year later. He spent two short loan stints at
AC Milan during his five years in
the US before, following a brief
spell out of the game, he joined
Paris Saint-Germain on a short-
term deal in January. Beckham's final match as a
professional is set to be on May
26 at the unlikely setting of
Lorient's Stade du Moustoir,
where PSG play their final game
of the Ligue 1 season.

David Beckham has paid his dues in sport industry, his retirement isn't a bad idea, as he will be long remembered for his impart in the history of football.