'I congratulated David Beckham on knighthood - I'm not sure about his reply'
Sky Sports presenter Alex Aljoe playfully suggested she's sceptical about David Beckham's claim that he recalls their interview from his time at Real Madrid.
Aljoe, who's covering the Club World Cup for DAZN, bumped into Beckham during the tournament's opening match. And she shared an amusing anecdote about their encounter on The Rest Is Football with Micah Richards, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.
The tale of Beckham's supposed sharp memory quickly descended into hilarity, as Richards joked that the football legend was "definitely lying". The well-known Sky Sports journalist recounted her experience at the inaugural game, where she reminisced with Beckham about an old encounter from his days in Madrid.
Aljoe said: "Well, that opening game was amazing, they had an opening ceremony as well. [There were] fireworks, French Montana performing... then the players came out one by one, Beckham was there. Sorry, Sir David Beckham was there.
"I congratulated him on his knighthood and asked if he remembered me from years ago, when I interviewed him at Real Madrid. He said, 'Yes', but the jury's out on that one."
Richards couldn't help but reply: "He was lying. He was lying, he was definitely lying," before Lineker added with a touch of hilarity: "Knights don't lie, Alex. Knights of the realm do not lie!"
Richards then cheekily offered to get in touch with the Manchester United icon for Aljoe, prompting Shearer to burst into laughter as he teased: "Listen to him, 'I can text him for you', what a k*** you are!"
It comes after Beckham was honoured with a knighthood in King Charles' Birthday Honours, describing the accolade as a "truly humbling and emotional moment. "The 50-year-old said: "Growing up in east London with parents and grandparents who were so patriotic and proud to be British, I never could have imagined I would receive such a truly humbling honour.
"To have played for and captained my country was the greatest privilege of my career, and literally a boyhood dream come true." He added: "I'm so lucky to be able to do the work that I do, and I'm grateful to be recognised for work that gives me so much fulfilment."
Beckham's current focus is on his team Inter Miami, which faces a challenging match against Porto on Thursday evening, while Madrid gear up for their tournament opener against Al-Hilal on Wednesday night at 8pm.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
Man City ease into Club World Cup campaign
PHIL FODEN scored inside two minutes to set Manchester City on the way to a comfortable 2-0 win against Wydad Casablanca in their opening match at the Club World Cup on Wednesday. Jeremy Doku was also on target before half-time at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where the majority of the 37,446 crowd were supporting City, but most of the noise was made by the fans of the Moroccan side. The afternoon was slightly marred for City as Rico Lewis was sent off for a dangerous tackle late on, but Pep Guardiola will be satisfied to see his team get off to a winning start. City have come to the Club World Cup eager to turn the page after a disappointing season domestically and in the Champions League. Tougher tests await than those provided by the team that finished third in the Moroccan league, with the English club next facing Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates before they complete Group G against Juventus. Guardiola used this occasion to field something of an experimental line-up, with new signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki making their debuts while teenage defender Vitor Reis started for just the third time since arriving in January. Advertisement This was always going to be a big ask for Wydad, whose coach Amine Benhachem was only appointed in the run-up to the Club World Cup. Their reinforcements for the tournament include a Brazilian defender signed on loan from the Portuguese second tier, a Dutch defender recruited from the Bosnian league, and 38-year-old Moroccan international Nordin Amrabat. French international creator Cherki was deployed in a floating central role for City close to Foden, and it was the England star who got the breakthrough in the second minute. Used sparingly in the final weeks of the Premier League campaign, Foden was perfectly placed to sweep the ball home inside the box after goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid patted a Savinho centre out into his path. Wydad, who qualified as a recent winner of the CAF Champions League, were not cowed and did have chances to give their passionate support something to celebrate. - Cherki, Reijnders make debuts - When Cherki gave the ball away cheaply, Thembinkosi Lorch produced an audacious attempt to beat Ederson from inside his own half, but the Brazilian goalkeeper was able to save. South African forward Cassius Mailula then missed a fine opportunity after being set up by Lorch following a Reis error. Nathan Ake and Foden had chances for City before the latter set up the second goal in the 42nd minute as his corner from the right was headed in by Doku. Doku should then have done better after being left with just the goalkeeper to beat after pouncing on defensive hesitation early in the second half. There would be no more goals, but Guardiola made a raft of substitutions as the second half went on, including withdrawing Cherki, Doku and Foden on the hour mark as Rodri and Erling Haaland came on. They could come into the starting line-up against Al Ain in Atlanta on Sunday, but Lewis will not feature in that game. The 20-year-old right-back was shown a straight red card in the 88th minute by the Brazilian referee after catching Wydad substitute Samuel Obeng high up with his studs. – © AFP 2025
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Real Madrid held by Al-Hilal on Trent Alexander Arnold's debut
Fifa Club World Cup: Real Madrid 1 (Garcia 34) Al-Hilal 1 (Neves 41) Xabi Alonso had said in the build-up that he was going to 'ignite' his players at this Club World Cup , that Real Madrid were ready to rock'n'roll. In the event this was something a little more ragged and downbeat, pub-rock, at times even a meandering shoe-gaze in Miami as a feisty and well-drilled Al-Hilal kept the new-era Madrid at arm's length in a Group H opener that ended in a 1-1 draw, flickered but never caught fire, and saw Federico Valverde miss an 92nd-minute penalty to win it. Madrid announced before the game that they had sold 60,000 tickets for this game at a 65,000 capacity stadium, which seems a little hard on Al-Hilal, who are owned by the Saudi government and as a result are basically paying for the whole show. As expected the Hard Rock was a sun-dappled sea of white at kick-off, Madrid the greatest portable source of eyeball-power at this made-for-TV show. And this was another strange event at the mothership of all strange events. Most obviously the game kicked off at 3pm local time in mid-June, a time of day when crossing the road here is likely to induce a state of full-body sock-soaking hydration, and trying to run is like hurling yourself head first into the sun. READ MORE In other staging news, Fifa revived its No To Racism messaging, running a short video to that effect before kick-off. There was a clear response here to criticism of kowtowing to the nearest authoritarian politician, with the watering down of that message to Football Unites The World, which has the added drawback of being demonstrably incorrect. Alonso had said in the build-up that Madrid needed 'closure with the past'. Well, good luck with that. But he picked a fresh-looking team here, with the rebranded Trent making his debut, just across from fellow newbie Dean Huijsen, and 21-year-old Gonzalo García at the point of the attack. Kylian Mbappé was absent with a fever, possibly even the strain of football fever Gianni Infantino has claimed is currently sweeping the US, albeit in asymptomatic form judging by the world beyond the stadiums. Federico Valverde misses a penalty kick that is saved by Yassine Bounou. Photograph: Sandra Montanez/Getty It was a little jarring to see the on-field banners at the Hard Rock, Real Madrid's badge enchained within the golden links of the Club World Cup logo. And fascinating also to see Alexander-Arnold for the first time in match-day kit, a familiarly shambling, bandy-legged figure, starting at right-back in a regulation 4-3-3 at kick-off. But it was Al-Hilal who almost opened the scoring with two minutes gone, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic drawing a save from Thibaut Courtois with a fierce drive. And with 13 minutes gone Marcos Leonardo really should have opened the scoring for Al-Hilal, deflecting a mis-hit shot just wide after João Cancelo had made ground on the right. Vinícius was booked for the crime of evading a potential Kalidou Koulibaly shin-raker. Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away a few times, most notably in the lead-up to a break that ended with the ball in the net, only to be rescued by the offside flag. Alonso had spoken a lot about the need for Bellingham to be 'in the right position', mentioning this three times in the space of 30 seconds in his prematch conference, although at times in the opening half-hour Madrid had little to offer here apart from his roving note of menace. But they scored almost immediately after the hydration break. It came from a break the length of the pitch, started by Alexander-Arnold winning a challenge. The ball was shuttled through midfield via Vinícius to Rodrygo on the right. His cross was perfectly curled into the path of García. The finish was a little fumbled, bobbling off one foot on to the other, the end result a dink over the goalkeeper. So the age of Alonso had its first goal. And it conceded its first with 40 minutes gone after Raul Asencio had given away a needless penalty, wrapping an arm around Leonardo as he veered away inside the box. Rúben Neves buried the kick to make it 1-1. Al-Hilal might have had a second, Salem al-Dawsari shooting just wide after a neat combination, drifting in from the Madrid right. Arda Guler came on for Asencio at half-time, as Madrid stuck with the flat four, Aurélien Tchouaméni dropping into the backline. And Guler hit the bar almost immediately after a long, fading Alexander-Arnold pass had put Vinícius in space, before Garcia drew a goalline reflex save from Yassine Bounou as Al-Hilal lived, briefly, on the edge. Bellingham showed some drive and trickery on the right. He wandered to the left. He gestured at his team-mates. Is this free radical role going to remain part of the Alonso blueprint? Madrid began to dominate possession in the Al-Hilal half, playing in the merciful shade of the Hard Rock's vast square wedding cake roof. Alexander-Arnold came off with 65 minutes gone of a so-so, occasionally promising debut, replaced by Lucas Vázquez. The game drifted into hydration breaks and low-throttle lulls in temperatures that never strayed below a brutally humid 90 degrees. Al-Hilal might have taken the lead after Vázquez gave the ball away, but Leonardo clumped his finish over the bar with pond-wader finesse. The crowd fanned itself and sat in a very Madrid kind of semi-hush, awaiting their moment. Vinícius was subbed off to a disappointed groan from Merengues diaspora. Luka Modric came on to the largest roar of the half to that point. At the death it seemed Madrid might produce a classic late assertion of their Darwinian right to win as they were awarded a soft VAR-reviewed penalty, but Valverde's kick was saved. – Guardian
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Pep Guardiola says referee's decision to dismiss Rico Lewis was ‘unnecessary'
Pep Guardiola leapt to the defence of Rico Lewis after the Manchester City defender's 'unnecessary' sending-off in their Club World Cup opener on Wednesday. Lewis was dismissed two minutes from the end of an otherwise satisfactory 2-0 victory over Wydad Casablanca in humid conditions in Philadelphia. The England international won the ball when he slid into a challenge with Samuel Obeng, but caught his opponent in the face in his follow through. Rico is the person who never has intention to hurt anyone for his style of play City manager Guardiola was angered by the Brazilian referee Ramon Abatti's decision and later spoke to the official. Guardiola said: 'He thought the leg was a little bit high, but he was on the grass. He touched the ball. 'For the speed they go to touch the ball – for the Newton's theory your leg has to be a little bit higher and the other player was down. Rico had no intention. 'Rico is the person who never has intention to hurt anyone for his style of play. Mancehster City defender Rico Lewis, left, was dismissed late on against Wydad Casablanca (Derik Hamilton/AP) 'It was unnecessary, honestly, the red card, but the referee had a different opinion and he's the boss. They checked VAR, so we accept it.' The Lewis incident took the gloss off an otherwise professional performance in the Group G opener, won with goals from Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku at the beginning and end of the first half. Guardiola said: 'It's so hot. It's not easy, for all the teams. We had good moments with many new players. 'The first game in the group stage is always really, really important. We started really well. After we had some problems, especially when we lost some simple balls but I saw many good things. Thank you for your support in Philadelphia! 🙌🩵 Next stop: Atlanta ✈️ — Manchester City (@ManCity) June 18, 2025 'It was the first game, now we prepare for the next one. Everybody will have to improve because it's so demanding, and it's going to happen.' Guardiola handed debuts to new signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki but it was Foden who proved their inspiration, pouncing on a rebound for the opener on two minutes and then setting up Doku's second. Foden endured an underwhelming 2024-25 campaign, but was recently stood down from England duty to refresh for the tournament. Guardiola said: 'He was really good. It was a good delivery for the second and the first, always he is there. 'We are pretty pleased and he was playing a position where he has to defend too as a holding midfielder.' City will now return to their training base in Miami before travelling to Atlanta for their next game against Al Ain of Abu Dhabi on Sunday (Monday morning UK time).
