David Beckham, Diego Simeone Share Thoughts on That Infamous Red Card

The four-part documentary series about David and Victoria Beckham is now on Netflix. The documentary, simply titled Beckham, touches on a number of crucial moments in the couple’s professional and personal lives.

One of which is that infamous red card handed to David Beckham during 1998 World Cup in France. During the Round of 16 match between England and Argentina, Beckham was sent off the pitch after kicking Diego Simeone.

The Events Leading to the Red Card

The score was tied at 2-2 when the incident occurred. Simeone fouled Beckham, who ended up face-down on the ground. Simeone then got up and rubbed his knuckles against the top of the Englishman’s head.

In response, Beckham kicked the Argentine player, who then fell to the ground. England then went on to lose the match during a penalty shootout.

“I made a stupid mistake,” the retired Manchester United legend says of the incident in the documentary.

David Beckham is ‘One Stupid Boy’

The Beckham documentary then goes on to detail the aftermath of the infamous red card. David Beckham became the subject of abuse not just from fans, but from the media as well. A front-page cover of one paper printed at that time read “One Stupid Boy” along with a photo of the football player.

Some of the harassment Beckham received during that time include getting spat at, receiving death threats, and even receiving kidnapping threats. The kidnapping threats were more directed towards his then-newborn son, Brooklyn.

“I find it hard to talk through what I went through because it was so extreme,” Beckham says in the documentary. “The whole country hated me. Hated me.”

“Wherever I went, I got abused, every single day,” he adds. “To walk down the street and to see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things that they said, that’s— You know, it’s difficult. That’s difficult.”

Diego Simeone Shares His Thoughts

Diego Simeone appears in the documentary as well to share his thoughts on the incident. When asked if he thought that David Beckham deserved a red card for the kick, he answers in Spanish “Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”

Simeone goes on to point out that “The contact was minimal.”

“You can I was hamming it up, knocked over by David’s imaginary kick.” he says.