David Beckham, idolised by soccer fans and teenage girls across England, has now stolen the hearts of academics at a British university who describe him as a global phenomenon and sporting messiah.
In a study entitled One David Beckham: Celebrity, Masculinity and the Soccerati, two academics claim Manchester United and England star Beckham is the most influential man in the United Kingdom.
"His image is a global issue and he appeals across such a wide range of people," said one of the study's authors, Dr Andrew Parker of Warwick University's Department of Sociology.
Parker and co-author Ellis Cashmore, of Staffordshire University, say Beckham, husband of Spice Girl Victoria, is part "new man", part "new lad", part "dad lad" and part "old industrial man".
They say no player in the long history of English football has come close to matching Beckham's celebrity appeal.
In the study, Parker and Cashmore describe Beckham as "emerging master, global phenomenon, chosen one, sporting messiah, corporate and commercial standard-bearer. Calm, considered, slight yet strong, tattooed for the cause, quintessential sporting icon".
They say he has transformed men's attitudes to fashion, fatherhood and homosexuality while remaining faithful to his traditional masculine, working-class roots.
Beckham became a scapegoat for the frustrations of millions of English soccer fans in 1998 when he was sent off in an epic World Cup clash between England and arch-rivals Argentina.
Many fans blamed his petulant kick on Argentina's Diego Simeone for England's defeat.
But since then he has undergone a resurrection both on and off the pitch.
He booked England's berth to the 2002 World Cup with a brilliant injury-time goal against Greece and has become a fashion icon and devoted dad to sons Brooklyn and Romeo. - Reuters