Greece Lightning 绝杀救国

England was staring at an unthinkable home defeat to Greece back in 2001, which would have meant that World Cup qualification was uncertain. In the final minute of the match, however, Beckham stepped up to score a beautifully struck free kick, ensuring automatic passage to the finals. England was off to the World Cup, and Beckham was absolved of his previous soccer sins.

2001年世界杯预选赛阶段，英格兰队令人意外地在主场落后于希腊队，这也导致他们有可能无缘02年的韩日世界杯。在比赛进入最后几分钟时，又是贝克汉姆，用他美妙的任意球扳平了比分，也将英格兰队送进了世界杯的决赛圈。这粒金子般的进球也洗刷了小贝上届世界杯留下的罪名。

Them's the Breaks 身负伤、心更痛

A few months before the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match against Deportivo La Coruña, breaking the second metatarsal bone in his left foot. Suddenly all England fans became medical experts, and the Sun newspaper even asked people to place their hands on a front page depicting his injury, in a spiritual attempt to heal him. It must have worked, as he battled back to fitness and scored the winner in a group game against Argentina — the team he'd been sent off against at the previous World Cup. Sadly for Beckham and England, they would be eliminated in the quarterfinals against eventual champion Brazil.

距离02年韩日世界杯开幕几个月前，小贝在欧冠联赛与拉科鲁尼亚的比赛中左腿第二跖骨骨折。顿时全英国的球迷仿佛都成了医学专家，《太阳报》甚至组织球迷们把手放在印有小贝受伤消息的报纸上，试图通过这样一种阿Q式精神胜利法来治愈小贝的伤势。这也的确起到了作用。小贝很快就伤愈回到了赛场上，并在与老冤家阿根廷的小组赛中打入了致胜球。但小贝和他的英格兰队仍未能逃过悲剧的命运，他们最终在1/4决赛中输给了最后的冠军巴西队。