A tearful David Beckham left the pitch to a standing ovation as he bid an emotional farewell to French champions Paris St Germain following a fine performance in the 3-1 home win against Stade Brest on Saturday.
Beckham, who announced on Thursday he would retire at the end of the season, was made PSG captain for his final home match.
The former England skipper was replaced by Argentine striker Ezequiel Lavezzi in the 81st minute and his team mates gathered around to hug him as walked off the pitch, applauding the 44,983 crowd, which included his wife Victoria and mother Sandra.
At 38, the oldest outfield player in Ligue 1, Beckham set up Blaise Matuidi for PSG's second goal with a corner kick and treated the crowd to a display of his passing skills.
He was very active on the right flank in a manner reminiscent of his Manchester United days and found Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a nicely curled pass, only for the Sweden striker to be denied by the Brest keeper.
One of Beckham's crosses also found Kevin Gameiro but the France international's header went just wide.
While most of his team mates had dyed their hair blue and red to celebrate the club's first league title since 1994, Beckham stepped on to the pitch with combed blond hair for his 10th Ligue 1 appearance.
Lavezzi messed up Beckham's hair when he replaced him but, in a nonchalant gesture, the former Real Madrid player put everything back in place before hugging coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Beckham joined PSG in late January and although he barely made an impact on his team's performances, he was praised as a great professional and friendly team mate.
- Reuters
