Former England captain David Beckham named the five best players he ever played with who he would pick in a five-a-side team.
Beckham enjoyed an illustrious footballing career having broken through at Manchester United aged 17 in 1992.
The midfielder won six Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson before departing for Real Madrid where he went on to win La Liga.
The following season, the Englishman then made the shock move across the pond to the MLS when he signed for LA Galaxy in 2007, returning to Europe in the off-season for two loan stints at AC Milan.
Eventually, Beckham returned permanently to Europe, playing one season at Paris Saint-Germain and helping them to win a league title prior to his retirement.
It was perhaps no surprise, therefore, that the 49-year-old found it hard when asked by former teammate Rio Ferdinand to construct a five-a-side team from players he shared a dressing room with.
Opting not to name a goalkeeper, Beckham opted for defensive duo Roberto Carlos and Paolo Maldini who he played alongside at Real and Milan respectively.
Moving further up the pitch, he selected Zinedine Zidane with whom he shared a midfield during his time at the Bernabeu.
‘He’s not just one of the greatest players that I’ve ever played with, one of the hardest trainers, and also just cool,’ Beckham said of Zidane on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
‘He’s just cool, you know, without trying. You play him a ball anywhere on the pitch, any height, any level, any speed, and he’d bring it down like it was just one of those things that he does.
‘People literally used to turn up at the Bernabeu to watch him just control a ball. Because it was like watching a ballerina, just the way he plays is so elegant. Everything about him, he’s elegant.’
In search of a striker, Beckham selected another former Real teammate, Ronaldo Nazario, who scored a remarkable 104 goals in 177 games during his five seasons in the Spanish capital.
Known for his supreme pace and dribbling ability, Beckham recalled how one moment in their first training session together left him in awe of the Brazillian’s talent.
‘I think when you watch Ronnie play back in the day, I mean, he’s electrifying on every level,’ Beckham continued.
‘One of our first training sessions was in Korea, I think, or China, I’m not sure where we were at the time. And the ball had just been played across to him and all he had to do was put it in the goal. And as he’s played across to him, I’m trying to defend it.
‘So I’ve slid across and as I’m sliding across, I thought he was just gonna play it first time into the goal, and as I’m sliding across he just puts his foot on the ball, and as I’m sliding past he just watches me like that with the biggest smile on his face and he just taps it in and I was like ‘oh god! Wow!”
Despite not selecting a player from his time with England, Beckham did have room for one player who he played alongside during his 11 seasons at Old Trafford.
‘You need a leader and you need someone that’s going to actually tackle and fight and be the player that he is, so I’m gonna have to say Roy Keane,’ Beckham ended.
‘He took no day off, and I don’t mean in the physical sense of having a day off. I mean, every single day that he stepped on that training pitch, he wanted to win.
‘He inspired us every single day because he came in with that mentality and we all knew that that’s what we have to cope with.
‘That’s the level that we have to reach and that’s why Keaney was who he was because he was a winner and he was hungry and he always wanted to win.’
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