Madrid Says ¡hola! to a Lucrative New Icon
Replica shirts hit the stands as Beckham greets the Real faithful. David Beckham, whose alleged lack of eloquence in his native tongue makes him the target of countless stand-up comedians, delivered his first public words in Spanish yesterday.
David Beckham, whose alleged lack of eloquence in his native tongue makes him the target of countless stand-up comedians, delivered his first public words in Spanish yesterday.
" Gracias ," he said, with the correct Castilian enunciation, after the ceremonial handing-over of the No 23 shirt that he will wear with his new team, Real Madrid.
"¡ Hala Madrid !" he added, a phrase which forms the basis of the club anthem and is the local equivalent of "Come on, United".
Reverting to English, he delivered a few words designed to allay suspicions, harboured most prominently by his former manager at Manchester United, that he has become more interested in celebrity than in his profession.
"I've always loved football," he said. "Of course I love my family and I have a wonderful life. But football is everything to me and joining Real Madrid is a dream come true."
Earlier, in an interview with Real Madrid's TV channel, he had said: "I don't want to be star. I just want to be part of a great team."
He also remarked that his son Brooklyn could already say ¡ hola! and adios : "He'll certainly be bilingual before I am."
Beckham will not be wearing his familiar No 7 shirt with Real Madrid because that number is already worn by Raul, the club's star home-grown striker.
No 23, formerly the property of Pedro Munitis, a winger who left the club some time ago, has probably been chosen because of its associations with the retired basketball star Michael Jordan, the last sports superstar whose fame reached every corner of the world. The US and China, where basketball is also big, are among the developing markets into which Real Madrid hope Beckham will lead them.
More than 500 journalists and photographers were present at Real Madrid's sports complex to witness yesterday's seven-minute ceremony, during which the club's president, the billionaire construction
magnate Florentino Perez, dropped a perfect soundbite into his welcoming speech. "Beckham has come from the Theatre of Dreams," Perez said, "to join the team of his dreams."
Preceded by the members of the junta , as the club's committee is known, Beckham arrived on stage flanked by Perez and Alfredo Di Stefano, the star of the great Real Madrid side of the 1950s.
However well he performs at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, England's captain is unlikely to attain the iconic stature of Di Stefano, now a stocky, anonymous-looking little man but once a football genius who established the club's tradition of attacking football, winning five European Cup winners' medals on the way.
"Welcome to our beloved club," Di Stefano said, handing over the shirt. "May you be happy and successful."
With Victoria Beckham watching from a seat next to Her Majesty's ambassador, Stephen Wright, the ceremony followed the pattern of those welcoming the other galacticos - stars attracted to Madrid by Perez, who has invested hundreds of millions of euros in pursuit of his dream team: Luis Figo of Portugal, Zinedine Zidane of France, Ronaldo of Brazil and now the man he called "one of the greatest English footballers of all time".
But, perhaps fearing that the arrival of this particular player is overshadowing even the world's most successful football club, Perez tried to put his acquisition into perspective.
"We've read that David Beckham is an icon with a global audience and a symbol of a postmodern society," he said. "All this may be true. But what is also true is that Real Madrid has employed a great footballer whose technical skills, team spirit and simplicity are admired by everyone who has worked with him."
Leaving the platform, Beckham changed out of his pale blue suit and reappeared a few minutes later on a nearby pitch in full Madrid kit, ready to demonstrate his skills to photographers and a small grand stand full of children. A boy appeared on the pitch and was presented with the first official replica Real Madrid shirt to bear the name and number of Beckham, who received a warm hug in return.
Outside the gates, seething with frustration, were some of the 600 journalists from Spain's prensa del corazon , the celebrity magazines and television stations, to whom the arrival of Beckham represents a rich source of new material.
Within minutes their microphones, cameras and notebooks were recording the boy's impressions of Madrid's latest resident celebrity.
And just up the Paseo de la Castellana, at the club's official shop, those replica shirts were already on sale.
" Gracias ," he said, with the correct Castilian enunciation, after the ceremonial handing-over of the No 23 shirt that he will wear with his new team, Real Madrid.
"¡ Hala Madrid !" he added, a phrase which forms the basis of the club anthem and is the local equivalent of "Come on, United".
Reverting to English, he delivered a few words designed to allay suspicions, harboured most prominently by his former manager at Manchester United, that he has become more interested in celebrity than in his profession.
"I've always loved football," he said. "Of course I love my family and I have a wonderful life. But football is everything to me and joining Real Madrid is a dream come true."
Earlier, in an interview with Real Madrid's TV channel, he had said: "I don't want to be star. I just want to be part of a great team."
He also remarked that his son Brooklyn could already say ¡ hola! and adios : "He'll certainly be bilingual before I am."
Beckham will not be wearing his familiar No 7 shirt with Real Madrid because that number is already worn by Raul, the club's star home-grown striker.
No 23, formerly the property of Pedro Munitis, a winger who left the club some time ago, has probably been chosen because of its associations with the retired basketball star Michael Jordan, the last sports superstar whose fame reached every corner of the world. The US and China, where basketball is also big, are among the developing markets into which Real Madrid hope Beckham will lead them.
More than 500 journalists and photographers were present at Real Madrid's sports complex to witness yesterday's seven-minute ceremony, during which the club's president, the billionaire construction
magnate Florentino Perez, dropped a perfect soundbite into his welcoming speech. "Beckham has come from the Theatre of Dreams," Perez said, "to join the team of his dreams."
Preceded by the members of the junta , as the club's committee is known, Beckham arrived on stage flanked by Perez and Alfredo Di Stefano, the star of the great Real Madrid side of the 1950s.
However well he performs at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, England's captain is unlikely to attain the iconic stature of Di Stefano, now a stocky, anonymous-looking little man but once a football genius who established the club's tradition of attacking football, winning five European Cup winners' medals on the way.
"Welcome to our beloved club," Di Stefano said, handing over the shirt. "May you be happy and successful."
With Victoria Beckham watching from a seat next to Her Majesty's ambassador, Stephen Wright, the ceremony followed the pattern of those welcoming the other galacticos - stars attracted to Madrid by Perez, who has invested hundreds of millions of euros in pursuit of his dream team: Luis Figo of Portugal, Zinedine Zidane of France, Ronaldo of Brazil and now the man he called "one of the greatest English footballers of all time".
But, perhaps fearing that the arrival of this particular player is overshadowing even the world's most successful football club, Perez tried to put his acquisition into perspective.
"We've read that David Beckham is an icon with a global audience and a symbol of a postmodern society," he said. "All this may be true. But what is also true is that Real Madrid has employed a great footballer whose technical skills, team spirit and simplicity are admired by everyone who has worked with him."
Leaving the platform, Beckham changed out of his pale blue suit and reappeared a few minutes later on a nearby pitch in full Madrid kit, ready to demonstrate his skills to photographers and a small grand stand full of children. A boy appeared on the pitch and was presented with the first official replica Real Madrid shirt to bear the name and number of Beckham, who received a warm hug in return.
Outside the gates, seething with frustration, were some of the 600 journalists from Spain's prensa del corazon , the celebrity magazines and television stations, to whom the arrival of Beckham represents a rich source of new material.
Within minutes their microphones, cameras and notebooks were recording the boy's impressions of Madrid's latest resident celebrity.
And just up the Paseo de la Castellana, at the club's official shop, those replica shirts were already on sale.
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