Readers of a certain age are about to get another jarring reminder that time marches on relentlessly:
David Beckham is turning 40.
May 2 is the big day for the iconic midfielder, who personified soccer stardom, celebrity, sex appeal and the game's rapid globalization over his glittering 20-year professional career.
(Of course, it's not as if Becks has left us: He's still leading the effort to found an MLS expansion club in Miami, takes part in substantial humanitarian activities, and is still an active pitchman for a range of products.)
Appropriately, Bleacher Report has marked Beckham's milestone birthday with "The Art of Beckham," a "digital art gallery experience" capturing the Englishman's winding journey from London to Manchester to Madrid to LA and beyond.
MLSsoccer.com's own graphic designer Gabriel De Los Rios contributed the image representing Beckham's SoCal chapter (below), immortalizing "the culmination of Beckham's American dream" as he led the Galaxy to the 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup championships.
"Having left Madrid for Los Angeles, Beckham's focus was on establishing a new level of popularity for his sport in the US and taking Major League Soccer to the next level," writes Bleacher Report's Will Tidey. "Naturally, he would sign off with the most Hollywood of endings, playing his part in LA Galaxy's 2012 MLS triumph in his final game."
