Long Wait Pays Off for Football Icon 'Sir Goldenballs'

It was perhaps the biggest moment of David Beckham's decorated football career.

- Victor Mather

NEW YORK — England needed to score against Greece in 2001 to qualify for the World Cup, and he stood over a free kick with little time left.

He duly bent the ball into the net, setting off paroxysms of joy throughout England. Announcer Gary Bloom spoke for the nation when he shouted: "Give that man a knighthood!" It took 24 years, but now he is getting one — and will be formally addressed as "Sir".

HOW DO YOU GET A KNIGHTHOOD?

In the modern age, knighthoods are conferred by the British royal family upon citizens who have achieved great success in their fields and served their country in one way or another.

"Recipients range from actors to scientists, and from school head teachers to industrialists," the royal family's website says. It might now add "impossibly handsome and famous ex-football stars".

LET'S HEAR THE CREDENTIALS OF BECKHAM, ER, SIR DAVID