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Friday, 28 March 2008

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David Beckham celebrates with Posh in Paris

Footballer achieves standing ovation for winning 100 England caps

To celebrate playing his 100th soccer game for England, David Beckham and wife Victoria Beckham chose to dine in Paris – at the same spot Eva Longoria and Tony Parker used for their wedding rehearsal dinner.

Beckham's extended family were seated in the swanky Baccarat restaurant when the 32-year-old midfielder arrived late on Wednesday. The soccer star's three sons did not attend the midnight meal.

Beckham is only the fifth Englishman ever to play 100 soccer games for his country.

"When he walked in all the guests applauded his achievement," says a restaurant source. "David was happy and smiling even though the England team lost the game to France."

Earlier in the night at the Stade de France, Beckham's three sons, wife, his divorced parents and two sisters watched on from a VIP box as England lost 1-0 to France. His estranged father Ted – the original driving force behind his son's early soccer career – watched proudly from the box. (The pair had an acrimonious falling out after Beckham Sr wrote a book about his son, but the wounds were partly healed last September after his father suffered a heart attack.)

"This is a moment which will remain in my memory forever. I'm very proud," Beckham told Le Parisien newspaper after the match, where 80,000 fans gave him a standing ovation. "I felt really good, at home, on the field... I have a house here and I was very touched by the French reaction."

In celebration, the Beckham clan dined on a nouvelle cuisine set menu at the eatery in Place des Etats-Unis. "They didn't have a champagne toast but Baccarat presented David with a cake at the end of the meal," says the source. "It was in the shape of a soccer ball and decorated with sparklers."

The Beckhams were then due to return home to America in preparation for a Saturday match in Denver for his Los Angeles Galaxy team.

Pete Norman and Peter Mikelbank