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BECKHAM'S FERGIE FEUD
Wednesday, December 03, 2003

BECKS ... feuding

DAVID BECKHAM has revealed for the first time the full extent of his feud with Alex Ferguson.

The England captain says the Old Trafford boss has said only ONE word to him — ‘hello’ — since his bitter exit to Real Madrid last summer.

That came when the pair met at the funeral of young United star Jimmy Davis in August.

Beckham admitted: “I have only spoken to him once. It was when we were at the funeral of a young player. All we said was ‘hello’ — nothing more.”

SunSport revealed at the end of last season that the pair had hardly spoken in the final two months of Beckham’s United career and the situation has clearly not improved.

Ferguson himself has barely uttered Beckham’s name since his departure.

It is all a long way from the days when the England skipper used to regard Ferguson as a father figure.

But as Becks prepared for tonight’s Madrid derby against Atletico he admitted that his move to the Bernabeu could not have gone better.

And he put paid to the stories that suggested there was animosity in the Real camp towards him — particularly from main star Raul.

Beckham said: “Raul was one of the first people to shake my hand on arriving and I don’t know where people get the idea we don’t get on.

“I understand he is under a lot of pressure because he has always been the king at Real Madrid and for Spain — he is a phenomenon.”

FERGIE...man of few words

Beckham also praised Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos for their talent and charm with the latter having taken him under his wing.

Beckham said: “Roberto has treated me like I was his son or brother since I arrived and I have to say he is the person who has made the biggest impression on me.”

For pure footballing ability, however, he believes nobody can touch French maestro Zinedine Zidane.

Becks said: “He is incredible — the No 1 in the world. He is the best there is, no doubt about that, and it is a privilege to be in the same team.”

Becks will renew his rivalry with Diego Simeone when he faces Atletico tonight.

But the Real star insisted there is no way he will be duped into an ugly confrontation with the Argentine. Simeone, 33, is a master at winding up opponents and got Becks sent off at the 98 World Cup.

But the England skipper said: “I’m looking forward to it. As far as I am concerned all the stuff with Simeone is in the past and I have put it behind me.

“I have played against him a few times since the sending-off at the World Cup and have been all right.”

Beckham took revenge on Simeone by blasting in the penalty that helped dump Argentina out of the World Cup.
But the former Inter Milan player did his best to antagonise Beckham by trying to shake hands just before the spot-kick — until Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt barged him out of the way.

Old Foe...Diego Simeone

And Simeone insists he will do everything he can to frustrate Becks again.

He warned: “I will never change the way I play. Beckham is a good player and I respect him but on the pitch I only care about winning.”

But Beckham knows it would be a disaster for Real to lose. He added: “I have played in derbies in Manchester and that was unbelievable.

“To play in a derby in Spain will be great and I know how important it is to the players and the people of Madrid.”

But Beckham’s biggest test will come on Saturday when he goes to the Nou Camp to face the club he turned down, bitter rivals Barcelona.

And he will not have endeared himself to their fans by claiming it would have been a step down to join Barca.

He said: “I heard United wanted to sell me when I was on holiday.

“The first thing they said was that they wanted to sell me to Barcelona but I didn’t want to go to Barcelona.

“I would only have left Manchester to have joined Real Madrid.

“To leave Manchester United, it had to be to go to a team of a similar level and quality of players and that only left Real Madrid.”