I still want to kill those who bullied David over red card, says Victoria Beckham as she reveals secret behind defeat

VICTORIA Beckham says she “still wants to kill people” who bullied hubby David after he was blamed for England’s exit from the 1998 World Cup.

Becks, 48, also tells a Netflix documentary of his torment after being sent off.

Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy

Victoria Beckham said her husband was left clinically depressed by the hate he received after being sent off in a crunch World Cup matchCredit: NETFLIX

She said: ‘He was depressed, absolutely clinically depressed. I still want to kill these people’

Kim Milton Nielsen sends off Beckham for petulantly kicking out at Diego SimeoneCredit: Bob Thomas Sports Photography – Getty
And Posh reveals she told David she was pregnant with their first child on the eve of the fateful Argentina match.

Beckham was left clinically depressed by the hate he received after being sent off in a crunch World Cup match, his wife Victoria has revealed.

The red card in the last 16 game against Argentina in 1998 was blamed for ten-man England losing on penalties.

Recalling the barrage of abuse that followed, Victoria says in a new Netflix documentary: “I mean, the absolute hate, the public bullying, to another level.

“He was depressed, absolutely clinically depressed.

“I still want to kill these people.”

Victoria also reveals how she told David she was pregnant with their first child the night before the Argentina match.

They named the baby Brooklyn — after where she was at the time, and not where he was conceived, as has been previously thought.

David — who was just 23 — reflects on it as the hardest time of his professional and personal life.

He says: “What I went through was so extreme. The whole country hated me. Hated me.

“It changed my life. I felt very vulnerable and alone. Wherever I went I got abuse every single day.

“People look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things that they said. That was difficult.”

The superstar pair recall their pain in a four-part series called Beckham.

David picked up a needless red card for kicking out at Argentina’s Diego Simeone — and went from national hero to zero.

For the next two years he was booed in stadiums across the country, and an effigy of him was even hung outside a South London pub.

Becks — alongside his wife of 24 years and parents Ted and Sandra — believes then-England manager Glenn Hoddle fuelled the hatred.

Before the tournament, Hoddle had publicly undermined him by claiming his relationship with Spice Girl Victoria was “distracting”.

He hit out at Becks after he was pictured wearing a sarong during a trip to the South of France where he and Victoria had stayed at Sir Elton John’s villa.

The disgruntled manager dropped him for two group games in the World Cup — despite an outpouring from fans demanding that he picked his star player.

In the documentary, Becks’ best pal — and best man at his wedding — Gary Neville hits out at the public annihilation of his team-mate in the run-up to the tournament in France.

In the aftermath of the sending off, the public tide significantly turned against Becks.

The Man United midfielder had to be escorted into West Ham’s ground under armed guard for the first away game of the following season.

His team bus was regularly pelted with beer bottles and cartons.

The Daily Mirror ran a front page showing a dartboard with the words: “Still Bitter? Take your fury out on our David.”

Even the then-PM Tony Blair blamed Beckham for England’s exit from the tournament.

The family say the catalyst was Hoddle’s decision to blame Beckham for the Argentina defeat.

In the documentary, Victoria says: “Glenn Hoddle didn’t come out and try and protect David. And how old was David, 23? You’re a kid at 23. And Glenn Hoddle was a man.

“Well, I wouldn’t even call him a man actually . . . he was an older person.”

Mum Sandra adds: “Hoddle is on my hit-list . . . of people that upset me. I thought, ‘What have you done?’ He made it that it was David’s fault. And we’d been used to a manager . . . Alex Ferguson never spoke about his team.”

David found himself being booed every time he touched the ball and cheers rang out when he was fouled. He recalls that the situation almost broke him mentally.

Becks credits his wife and family for pulling him back.

The Netflix doc follows Beckham’s rise from working-class beginnings to global football stardomCredit: Getty

The pair are filmed dancing together at homeCredit: NETFLIX
On the eve of the match, Victoria told David she was expecting.

Talking about it for the first time, she reveals she made the call from Brooklyn — cementing the name of their son.

David reveals he wanted to leave the tournament to be with Posh but wasn’t allowed.

Victoria recalls: “I was in Brooklyn. David was so, so happy.

“We both were and there was never any doubt in my mind that I should tell him. I mean, it was what we wanted and he could not have been happier.”

Asked by director Fisher Stevens: “So you tell him right before the biggest game of his life — did you think it would help him?”

Designer Victoria, 49, replies: “I don’t really know.”

David confirms “Before the Argentina game, she phoned me and said I’ve just taken a test and I’m pregnant.

“The first thing I wanted to do (was get out of there and be with Victoria) but I couldn’t, we were in a major tournament.”

It is the first time the couple have confirmed how chef Brooklyn, now 24, got his name — contrary to long-running reports that it was because he was conceived in the New York borough.

Previously in her autobiography, Posh wrote: “I had always liked the name Brooke and then we suddenly thought about Brooklyn. I’d always like it as a place — it’s very multi-cultural, very grounded.”

Other contributors in the much- anticipated documentary include Phil Neville, Alex Ferguson, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Paul Ince and Sporty Spice Mel C.

As well as behind-the-scenes footage and archive clips, never- before-seen videos and pics of the Inter Miami co-owner are shown — including from his wedding in 1999.

Beckham streams on Netflix from Wednesday.