David Beckham’s Inter Miami are getting better by the day, although, his dream 5-a-side team would surely win the lot.
He’s one of football’s most iconic names, so Beckham has unsurprisingly played alongside some of the best to have ever played the game.
The former England captain therefore has an embarrassment of riches when asked to name his all-time 5-a-side team.
In defence is a duo that would strike fear into any striker with AC Milan icon Paolo Maldini holding the fort, while World Cup winner Roberto Carlos is given licence to bomb forward and unleash his cannon of a left foot.
Another World Cup winner and former Real Madrid teammate of Beckham’s makes the cut in Zinedine Zidane. Ronaldo, who was another Galactico and has two World Cup winners’ medals to his name, is up front.
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And there’s also a place for his former captain at Manchester United, Roy Keane.
But why did these five make the cut when so many other didn’t? In the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, ‘Golden Balls’ explains all.
Roberto Carlos and Paolo Maldini
“I would have to say Roberto Carlos, because he can play in defence and attack.
“He used to play more attack than defence, to be fair. And then I would have to say Maldini.”
Zinedine Zidane
“Then I would say… Zizou. He’s one of the, not just one of the greatest players that I’ve ever played with, one of the hardest trainers, and also just cool. He’s just cool, you know, without trying.
“You play him a ball anywhere on the pitch, any height, any level, any speed, he’d bring it down like it was just one of those things that he does.
“People literally used to turn up at the Bernabeu to watch him just control a ball. Because it was like watching a ballerina, just the way he plays is so elegant. Everything about him, he’s elegant.
“And that’s when you know he’s so special, Zizou, because he walks into a room and without even looking, without even seeing him come in, you know someone’s walked in.”
Ronaldo
“The next one would have to be one of the greatest and most natural goal scorers that I have ever, ever seen, Ronaldo (R9).
“I think when you watch Ronnie play back in the day, I mean, he’s electrifying on every level.
“One of our first training sessions was in South Korea, I think, or China, I’m not sure where we were at the time. And the ball had just been played across to him and all he had to do was put it in the goal. And as he’s played across to him, I’m trying to defend it. So I’ve slid across and as I’m sliding across, I thought he was just gonna play it first time into the goal, and as I’m sliding across he just puts his foot on the ball, and as I’m sliding past he just watches me like that with the biggest smile on his face and he just taps it in and I was like, ‘oh God! Wow!’
“We had a lot of dinners together and he’s the best. The funniest, the kindest. He’s a really kind person and he really helped me at Real Madrid and helped Victoria and the kids.
“You know he used to have these Brazilian barbecues around his house on a Sunday. All his family, all of the friends, a few of the players, and we all used to go around, me Victoria and the kids.
“It really helped us at the time because you need people like that to help you when you move into different countries, and he was unbelievable.”
Roy Keane
“Oh my goodness, my last one. I’m gonna say Keaney.
“You need a leader and you need someone that’s gonna actually tackle and fight and be the player that he is, so I’m gonna have to say Keaney.
“He took no day off, and I don’t mean in the physical sense of having a day off. I mean, every single day that he stepped on that training pitch, he wanted to win.
“Whether it was at the, you know, the keep ball game, at the heading game, he inspired us every single day because he came in with that mentality and we all knew that that’s what we have to cope with.”
“That’s the level that we have to reach and that’s why Keaney was who he was because he was a winner and he was hungry and he always wanted to win.”
David Beckham’s dream 5-a-side team
Roberto Carlos
Paolo Maldini
Zinedine Zidane
Ronaldo
Roy Keane
Wonder who’s going to play in goal?
Listen to the full Rio Meets Becks interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.