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17 avril 2018
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : 1995-1996, when David Beckham was making his first steps in the tournament (7/16)
Ahead of the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament, which will be held from 26th May to 9th June, we’ve delved into the archives to relive some of the most memorable moments in the tournament history. Every Tuesday and Friday, we look back at the most thrilling facts provided by the competition. Today, we talk about the appearances made by David Beckham at the Maurice Revello Tournament.
Football star, fashion icon : David Beckham is one of the most famous footballers in the world.
Before to earn a worldwide reputation, the Englishman worked hard, earned some experience and improved. He made his first steps at the professional level at Preston, where has loaned out by Manchester United during the 1994-1995 campaign. At the end of that season, he got his first international caps with the England U21 squad during… the Maurice Revello Tournament !
On June 1995, he played his first Toulon Tournament. Alongside Phil Neville notably, “Becks” has started all the games played by the Young Lions and helped his country to reach the knockout stage but England lost against the France of Robert Pires in the semi-finals (0-2).
One year later, Beckham came back in the south of France to play the tournament again. In 1996, he is a more experienced player as he established himself as a regular for Manchester United and helped the Red Devils to win both Premier League and FA Cup.
However, England struggled during the Maurice Revello Tournament 1996. After beating Belgium (1-0) in the first game, Beckham and his teammates have been defeated by Angola (0-2), Portugal (1-3) and Brazil (1-3). Scant consolation for the Manchester United youngster : he has been the most used player by England during the competition.
The scoresheet of the game between England and Belgium at the Toulon Tournament 1996
Fortunately for him, Beckham will know more success in his career : the “Spice Boy” clinched six Premier League titles as well as one Champions League trophy with Manchester United before winning one La Liga and one Spanish Cup with Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, he established himself as the England’s third most capped player of all time with 115 international caps, just behind Peter Shilton and Wayne Rooney.
Without doubt, Beckham is a real star and the Toulon Tournament fans had the opportunity to see him when he was still unknown.
READ ALSO :
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : 1975, the Argentina of Daniel Passarella clinched the title (1/16)
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : 1982, the emergence of the Koeman brothers (2/16)
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : 1983, an epic final between Argentina and Brazil (3/16)
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : when Jean-Pierre Papin left his mark on the Toulon Tournament’s history (4/16)
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : 1991, the Alan Shearer's legendary display (6/16)
Mathieu Lauricella
