MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH
David Beckham interview
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3:52
Video page URL
https://multimedia-english.com/videos/esl/david-beckham-interview-1386
Description

David Beckham, considered by many the best football player at the moment, is interviewed on Australian TV after leaving Real Madrid for Los Angeles Galaxy.

Transcript

David Beckham scores a goal
Quite stunning.
David Beckham’s done it again!

- Well, David Beckham, welcome to Australia.
-Thank you.
- I have to ask the obvious question. Ah, “Why the United States, why the L.A. Galaxy, and why now?”

Because I felt that I needed a new challenge. I played for Manchester United for-for 13, 14 years, then I moved to Madrid and played for Madrid for-for 4 years and was successful with both clubs. And obviously, I had, you know, other opportunities to go to maybe Italy or back to England from Spain, but I just wanted a new challenge and America was a challenge. So you know, I moved the whole family over there; the kids, kids are happy, Victoria’s happy over there and I’m happy I’m playing in the MLS. You know, I think there’s a lot of potential out there. you know, the-the-the... obviously the game is nowhere near as big as it is everywhere else in the world, so like I said, there’s a challenge, and that’s the challenge, and I'm looking forward to it.

We saw Pele and Beckenbauer, just two of the great names who went there in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s with the Cosmos. A different league then. What makes you think it’s different now? Would you have been aware of what took place in those days?

Yeah, of course. There..., you know, there was- there was great players, some of the best players in the world that went over there and played at the time so, you know, like you say, Beckenbauer, Pele, you know, George Best, Rodney Marsh. So there’s been many players that have gone over there. But I think the difference is now, the league is a lot more stable, you know. There’s this – the money has been sort of separated between, you know, each team and the whole league is, like I said, is a lot more stable, so there’s a lot more chance of-of it surviving and you know, a lot more chance than-than a few years ago. So, you know, that’s why I wanted that challenge of going over there, and trying to make a difference.

You mentioned it’s a -it's a friendly environment,  at least so far, is it a good environment in which to play good football? I mean, will it be too distracting, perhaps, because they will eventually become as demanding as they are in Europe?

No, no...you know, it’s not distracting at all. You know, once I’m on a football pitch, once I’m out there playing with the team, you know therep's no... there are no distractions, you know. There’s obviously...you know, it’s great to be living in Los Angeles but it’s also great to be travelling to different parts of America and playing, and playing football against different players and different teams. So it’s something that I am really enjoying.

The players have said nice things about you. Was it difficult settling in and sort of getting to know each other in that different environment?
 
That was obviously one of the things I was... I was worried about, when I first moved there, but I was also worried when I first moved to Madrid. The...the...It’s about accepting players and things like that, and when I moved to Madrid, they ex... accepted me straight away and also, you know, in the Galaxy dressing room, they ex... accepted me on the first day. So, you know, they’re a great bunch of guys, and it's a... it’s a great atmosphere.

How was the season? As it was, it was a bit frustrating, I’d imagine, with the injury.

It was frustrating and also disappointing. cause we didn’t make the playoffs, and obviously all I, you know, it’s frustrating on my part because I hardly played any games with...with the injuries, you know? One injury after another, and I missed most of the games in the season which was obviously frustrating for the...the Galaxy fans and the other players, but it was really frustrating for myself because I felt that I just wanted to get out there and play some football.
 
David Beckham’s done it again!