Son Of Ted

‘THERE’S only one person in history more famous on crosses than David Beckham and that’s Jesus – but even the Son Of God might have struggled to draw the same crowd as Becks yesterday.

‘Throw away your crutches and walk!’

Two billion people apparently tuned in to watch the 28-year-old England captain being paraded in his new No.23 Real Madrid top.

And thousands flocked to the club’s training ground to catch a glimpse of the club’s new signing.

No wonder both the Sun and the Star use religious terminology to describe the scenes.

The Sun salutes the ‘Messiah Of Madrid’ and says Beckham was treated ‘like a god’ on his first day at his new club.

The Star describes him as a ‘football god’ and says his new disciples were in heaven as they stretched their hands through a wire fence to try to touch the man himself.

If we thought Beckhamania was a purely English disease, the scenes in Madrid confirm that it is fast becoming a global epidemic.

Ask 10-year-old Alfonso Lopez Iniguez, who managed to evade security guards and fling himself into his hero’s arms, becoming the recipient of the world’s first Real Madrid Beckham replica shirt for his trouble.

His mother Lorenza tells the Star: ‘David has made my son the happiest boy on the planet.’

And Alfonso himself explains: ‘I just wanted to get near to David and touch him – but when he hugged me back I asked him for his shirt.

‘The only time I’m going to take it off now is when I go swimming.’

But why worry about getting the shirt wet? Surely, from now on Alfonso will find it easier to emulate his hero and walk across the pool…

‘

Posted: 3rd, July 2003 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink