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Injured England midfielder David Beckham

Beckham’s surgeon told Reuters on Monday that the player will need three to four months before he can resume “light playing”. The World Cup begins in less than three months on June 11.

Here are some details about Beckham, as famed for his ever-changing hairstyle, tattoos and fashion statements as for his football.

EARLY LIFE:

Beckham was born on May 2, 1975 in London. He joined Manchester United as a 16-year-old trainee in 1991. By 1995 he became a regular during the club’s most successful era.

They won the Premier League and FA Cup double during his first full season. During the 1996/97 campaign he scored from the halfway line in an opening day victory over Wimbledon. — In 1999 the team went one further, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.

ENGLAND

Beckham made his England debut on Sept. 1, 1996 in a World Cup qualifier against Moldova. Two years later he scored in the finals against Colombia but went home from France in disgrace after being sent off for kicking out at Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone in a second-round defeat.

In England, Beckham was widely blamed for the defeat and slammed by the tabloid newspapers.

ENGLAND CAPTAIN:

Beckham captained England on the first of 58 occasions against Italy in a friendly in Nov. 2000 and the next year booked them a place in the 2002 World Cup finals with a stunning injury time free kick, salvaging a 2-2 draw against Greece. England were knocked out by Brazil in the quarter-finals. — In 2006, he resigned as England captain after his side lost in the World Cup quarter-finals to Portugal, who knocked them out at the same stage of Euro 2004.

Beckham returned to the team a year later and has earned 115 caps, an England outfield record.

NEW CLUBS:

Beckham signed for Real Madrid from United for 25 million pounds ($41 million) in July, 2003 and after the Spanish club went three seasons without a major trophy, helped inspire them to the league title in 2007.

He joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in July 2007 in a mega-money deal in a bid to promote soccer in the United States but the team struggled and failed to book a place in the end-of-season playoffs last year. He has twice been loaned to Milan to stay in the England picture during the MLS close-season.

OFF THE PITCH:

Beckham met Victoria Adams in the mid-1990s when she was a member of pop group the Spice Girls. The perfect media match-up, the couple were instantly catapulted into the limelight.

Beckham and Adams married in July 1999, a few months after their first son Brooklyn was born. Their second son Romeo was born in Sept. 2002 and third son Cruz in Feb. 2005.