The fallout from the ugly disintegration of the friendship between Mark Wahlberg and David Beckham has played out in public
– but the English soccer legend appeared to have the last laugh as he proved his old pal wrong with one prediction.
The world-famous pair have been at legal loggerheads in the past week as details emerged that the former Manchester United winger has sued the Hollywood actor,
alongside F45 founders Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch. Beckham’s company, DB Ventures Ltd, has alleged that Wahlberg “duped” him into working with F45,
with the ex-Real Madrid superstar having reportedly lost $10.5 million as his stocks were withheld until share prices dropped.
However, Wahlberg and his representatives have denied these claims, with the resultant reaction around the ensuing controversy having made headlines on both sides of the pond.
Despite the duo having been close in the past, having been neighbors, it appears that some tension has existed between the pair going back to the early days of Beckham’s move to the US.
His “Ted” funnyman nemesis made disparaging comments about the ex-LA Galaxy midfielder all the way back in 2009 – just two years into his spell stateside in MLS. Speaking of the impact of the star’s arrival on his local neighborhood, Wahlberg told Daily Mail: “Man, the Beckhams. It used to be so quiet on my road.
“Then David moves in with his family. Suddenly we’ve got paparazzi hanging out day and night. Now they’ll follow any car that drives down the road. I take strong exception to that kind of thing. When I take my kids to the park I don’t want strangers sticking their lenses into our faces.”
On top of his clear dismay surrounding the media circus that had accompanied Beckham’s presence in California, he also had some choice words to say about his sport of choice. Predicting that his designs on improving the popularity of soccer in the US would prove fruitless, he continued: “I’m not telling Beckham to take his family home.
“I’m just not sure why he came to America in the first place. Man, we don’t want your soccer. There’s no way Americans are going to buy the idea of 90 minutes of running around without much happening. Thanks for trying guys, but we’ll stick to baseball and basketball.”
Fast forward some 15 years, however, and it appears that Beckham has very much defied his naysayers in this regard, with his own career in MLS having provided a launchpad for his co-ownership of Inter Miami. Having established the club back in 2018, the franchise was eventually able to pull off arguably the most significant transfer in American soccer history in 2023.
Finally bringing World Cup winner and eight-time Ballon d’Or victor Messi to Florida, the ensuing fanfare has helped the popularity of the sport explode stateside in recent months. Receiving a rock star-like reception across the US – with record attendances at arenas following – the legendary winger’s move to Miami has been embraced by large swathes of the American public.
In this sense, Beckham’s dream of transforming the standing of soccer in the country was finally realized as “Messi Mania” gripped the nation in the wake of his switch from PSG. With the World Cup set to take place in the US in 2026, the arrival of the Argentine icon on these shores may be seen as a seminal moment in America finally embracing soccer.
With the Messi impact undeniable, the Argentinian icon has helped Beckham prove Wahlberg’s disparaging comments on his sport wrong.
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Source: USA Today
