The tears were not caused by the pain of the injury, but upon the realisation that those two years of hard work were cut short by an instance of sheer bad luck.

Juggling his footballing career in between two continents, missing out on some aspects of his children’s upbringing in the process, David Beckham knew that it would all be worth it in the end if he had just the slightest chance of representing his country in this year’s football World Cup.

Often perceived as the man with the Midas touch, it is perhaps somewhat fickle that the British media gives so much exposure to a broken achilles tendon in an Italian football match, while members of its Armed Forces are battling it out in Kabul and Baghdad. But Beckham is much more than a sporting icon in England. He is a global figure who is admired all over the world for his constant dedication to his profession, his gentlemanly conduct on and off the pitch, his charity work and perhaps most importantly, the great role model he is to youngsters.

When a flying tackle from an opponent jeopardised his hopes of playing in the 2002 football World Cup, The Sun carried a front page picture of Beckham in agony, asking all those who bought the paper on the day to tuck the picture safe in their pocket and say a daily prayer in the hope that he would be fit in time for the start of the World Cup.

Fans from all countries flock at his feet and weep at the mere glimpse of the man. However, this obsession with Beckham is not because of his skills as a footballer, but because people from all over the world empathise with a man who, despite all the fame and fortune, did not lose touch with the realities of this world.

Money can buy many things in life, but it cannot buy respect, admiration and esteem, values which are of the few and far between in the world of sport.

If anything, Beckham’s character traits can probably be ascribed to good upbringing and disciplined behaviour. In his autobiography, Beckham paid testimony to his roots, stating he was honoured to have touched the lives of so many children in his life, hinting that he probably enjoyed meeting them more than they did him. He even touched the lives of children in this country on past visits, setting up an interim soccer school and often reminiscing about his holidays in Malta with ‘the lads’ before his rise to stardom.

Never one to forget his roots, critics have often found themselves in a conundrum whether to admit that he did actually change the face of the game in the new millennium.

The British public loves nothing more than the feeling of an underdog, epitomised well enough by Beckham who, with odds continuously stacked against him, always managed to somehow pull it all through, to the extent that even before he reached middle age, the world was at his feet.

After scoring a last minute free-kick to send his country to the finals of the World Cup in 2001, when asked what pleased him most on the day, Beckham did not fail to mention his meeting with Kirsty Howard, a girl born with her heart back to front which led to all her other organs being misplaced.

Fame and fortune are cast aside as he continuously played the role of ambassador to club and country, which is why the England manager has vowed to take Beckham to South Africa if not as a player, then as a mascot for all that England stands for.

Under scrutiny every time he appears in public, Beckham remains a role model to both kids and adults alike. When asked whether he could see himself as a football manager in a few years’ time, Beckham remarked that his main ambition after retiring would be to open up football schools in various countries from all parts of the globe, so that kids most susceptible to danger and violence could be exempt from falling down the wayward path.

You can take all the money in the world, but Beckham is the paradigm needed in today’s society. He could have easily fallen down the wrong path the likes of Tiger Woods, Marion Jones and George Best have, but if last Sunday was the last time he kicked a ball in anger on a competitive basis, it was also a sad farewell to one of the most revered gentlemen in the sporting world.

Whatever Beckham does in his later life, he will always serve as an example to everyone that humility should never make way for materialism, commercialism and vanity, whatever one manages to do with one’s life. It wouldn’t be that bad an idea for everyone to take a leaf out of his book.