Here is one reason that makes me respect Beckham as a professional sportman.
After some successful years playing for Manchester United in the English Premier League, he decided to go to
Spain
to play for the Real Madrid, a team full of world soccer super stars (Ronaldo, Zidane, Raul, Figo, Roberto Carlos ...). A lot of ego there….
Beckham was always mentioned by teammates and sport reporters as a great professional. He was the first showing up and the last leaving the practice court. He was very respectful with his rivals inside and outside the court.
In addition to that, the last season he was playing for Real Madrid, the head coach was Fabio Capello (current
England
national team coach). Capello announced, in the middle of the season, that he didn’t like Beckham’s game and that Beckham would never play for the team again ( this is one of the reasons Beckham decided to sign for the Galaxy)
Beckham never responded to Capello's announcement, and he kept training everyday, sometimes separated from his teammates, in a different court, and sometimes with the Real Madrid second team (this is a development team).
After a couple of months in that situation, and seeing that Beckham acted as a model professional, Capello changed his mind and started to use Beckham again. The team didn't play well, but the courage showed by all players, especially by the English, made the team win the Spanish League over the Barcelona of Ronaldihno.
