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2000-2002
Winning over the England fans
The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters peaked during
England's 3–2 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000, when a group of England
supporters taunted him throughout the match. Beckham responded with a
one-fingered gesture and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of
the newspapers that had previously encouraged his vilification asked their
readers to stop abusing him.
On 15 November 2000, following Kevin Keegan's resignation as England manager in
October, Beckham was promoted to team captain by the caretaker manager Peter
Taylor, and then kept the role under new manager Sven-G?ran Eriksson. He helped
England to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals, with their performances
including an impressive 5–1 victory over Germany in Munich. The final step in
Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2–2 draw against
Greece on 6 October 2001. England needed to win or draw the match in order to
qualify outright for the World Cup, but were losing 2–1 with little time
remaining. The rest of the England team were playing relatively poorly, and it
was Beckham's inspirational performance that lifted his teammates. When Teddy
Sheringham was fouled some eight yards outside the Greek penalty area, England
were awarded a free-kick and Beckham ensured England's qualification with a
curling strike of the kind that had become his trademark. Shortly afterwards, he
was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001. He once again
finished runner-up, to Luis Figo of Portugal, for the FIFA World Player of the
Year award.
Metatarsal injury
On 10 April 2002, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match against
Deportivo La Coru?a, breaking the second metatarsal bone in his left foot. There
was speculation in the British media that the injury might have been caused
deliberately, as the player who had injured Beckham was Argentinian Aldo Duscher,
and England and Argentina were due to meet in that year's World Cup. The injury
prevented Beckham from playing for United for the rest of the season, but he
signed a three-year contract in May, following months of negotiations with the
club, mostly concerning extra payments for his image rights. The income from his
new contract, and his many endorsement deals, made him the highest-paid player
in the world at the time.
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