Simply Abu Dhabi XI

you have to have that toughness side. But you also have to have that side where you put your arm around them and they respond to that.” Beckham talks about coaching in terms of parenting, and parenting in terms of coaching. So might Beckham make the transition from individual mentoring to full- time management? “Management has never interested me at all, I must admit. In five or ten years, I might turn round and say, ‘I actually fancy management’, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. I enjoy other stuff more. I’d love to coach my daughter.” Beckham adds, laughing, “That’s the only management side I would take up because I wouldn’t want anyone else telling her what to do!” On a recent visit to China, there was a stampede of fans. Isn’t that kind of fame a ball-and-chain? “You don’t want it to get to that point where people get hurt. Thankfully no one got badly hurt. But it was hairy at times. I still feel honoured by the reaction that I get in places like China, Japan and Nepal. That’s down to the clubs I’ve played for, Manchester United and Real Madrid, who are well known all around the world.” Some champions do not draw a distinction between their achievements on the pitch and their lives off the field. They think they are great, full stop, agents of destiny in every respect. It is often this type who finds retirement the hardest. Their confidence drains away. Their self-belief as a person is derived almost entirely from their aptitude as a player. Deprived of the sporting stage, they wither. Others (the Beckham type) are able to separate the special strands of their lives from the everyday, the extraordinary from the universal. But retaining those two facets simultaneously — an acceptance of undeniable difference, while embracing normality where possible — requires a rare and special psychological range. Perhaps wisdom is the right word. In a Q&A with the kids, Beckham has four messages. First, we all need luck. Second, that doesn’t mean you will not have to make sacrifices and demonstrate endurance. Third, find things you enjoy, even if you aren’t brilliant at them. Finally, know your own mind, be prepared to be different. If he’d spent his life reading books rather than playing football, Beckham might have backed up his philosophies with intellectual references. Perhaps he’d have quoted the brilliant speech last month about luck by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve. Or Beckham might have referenced Philip Larkin’s wonderful line, “You don’t have to play at Wimbledon to enjoy playing tennis”. Does it matter? Formal education gives you footnotes but it cannot teach intelligence, still less wisdom. Having spent a morning with Beckham, I think he has a lot of both. David Beckham is a Sky ambassador and supports Sky Sports Living For Sport, the initiative for schools that uses sports stars and skills to improve the lives of young people across Britain and Ireland. 6 1 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I