David Beckham: 5 things we’ll miss about Becks upon his retirement

The news earlier this year that David Beckham was retiring was not unexpected; the bloke is 38 years old after all, and he’s been playing for some two decades. That can tire a guy out, not to mention the fact that he’s busy with a modeling career on the side.

Still, while Beckham certainly was not in the prime of his career anymore, he will be dearly missed by the global football community. Here are six things we’ll miss about David Beckham.

1- The way he bends the ball

The movie title (“Bend it Like Beckham) says it all. No one could bend a football better than the longtime English national team player.

He’s able to boot sinkers and curve balls in a way no one else can, a whiz with his foot in the same way Cy Young winners are a wiz with the arm.

2- The slight confusion

Beckham was always a great player on the field but off it, he sometimes seemed a little slow, whether he was talking to reporters or going on a charitable visit to an alcoholism recovery center.

And some of his fashion choices made people do a doubletake – this was, after all, a man who made his reputation as much on what sort of leather pants he wore as how well he dribbled the ball. With Beckham no longer in the spotlight, his endearing dopiness will be missed.

3- The Free Kicks

There’s nothing quite like a David Beckham free kick. They were things of beauty – arching high toward the goal and making opposing keepers quiver in their cleats.

4- The crazy shots from Midfield

Sometimes, when watching Beckham, it was easy to want to scream at the television screen, “What were you thinking?” He’d take shots from way too far away but sometimes they’d go into the goal. And that would only encourage him to do it again.

When it worked, it was amazing.

5- The Power Couple

It’s probably too soon to tell if Becks and Posh Spice, aka wife Victoria Beckham, will choose a life of quiet reflection, swearing off their Hollywood ways, now that he’s retiring.

But at the very least, his profile will drop, which will eventually knock them from the list of high-powered celebrity couples.