Telegraph – When green dreams meet political facts (third item) By Alice Thomson

Practice often makes perfect

David Beckham has confessed. Not only does he wear skirts, he is incredibly tidy. He insists on going round his homes and hotel rooms re-organising the magazines (his wife has explained that they never read books). The Pepsis in his fridge have to be lined up in even numbers and he buys 30 pairs of Calvin Klein underpants every fortnight. This is too much information for some of his male fans. They coped with his and Posh’s matching outfits, but this is taking girliness too far.

They shouldn’t worry. These traits are what make the midfielder a star. Beckham has obsessive-compulsive disorder, as does Paul Gascoigne. This is why, as a child, David was able to spend hours kicking a ball into the net until he could do it perfectly. His illness may have produced an overly tidy home, but it also gave Britain one of its greatest assets – the bend-it-like-Beckham free-kick.

I had no idea.

Date: Apr 5th, 2006 · Comments RSS · Tags: Sports and Leisure