On Thursday, Beckham, never the best player in the world but unsurpassed in his era as a cultural phenomenon, announced his impending retirement from soccer at 38. The sport has long had global stars, but none whose careers emerged so fortuitously at the nexus of technology, reality television and celebrity culture. Beckham was the athlete with the most crossover appeal at the moment when everyone could watch together, online or via satellite. When David Beckham broke a bone in his left foot before the 2002 World Cup, Tony Blair, then the British prime minister, interrupted a cabinet meeting to express his concern about England’s suddenly uncertain chances. Tabloid newspapers ran photos of Beckham’s injured foot on Page 1 and asked readers to lay their hands on the picture in an attempt at mass civic healing.
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