David Beckham posed for a photo with his ‘friend’ Diego Simeone, which may come as a surprise due to the pair’s rivalry during their iconic playing careers.
Beckham and Simeone were seen arm in arm in Qatar following Argentina’s World Cup final win over France, with the Atletico Madrid manager wearing the blue and white of his country.
England and Manchester United legend Beckham captioned the image: “Congratulations my friend.”
Simeone re-posted and wrote: “Good to see u always!”
Simeone was an Argentina icon, winning two Copa Americas, but never the World Cup, and was in attendance as his Atleti star Rodrigo De Paul lifted the trophy.
Part of his inability to take the top prize was due to Beckham, but the same can certainly be said the other way, with Simeone giving the former winger one of the worst days of his career.
The two first met in the 1998 World Cup Round of 16, and Beckham only featured for 47 minutes, thanks to Simeone.
The Inter Miami owner kicked out at his midfield counterpart and received a questionable straight red as the normally tough Simeone flopped on the floor having fouled Beckham moments before.
Argentina went on to progress on penalties after a 2-2 draw, with Simeone’s impact seeing Beckham hounded back in England where he was targeted by the media and even had effigies hanging of him in the streets.
The two footballing greats would face-off again on six more occasions, with Beckham ending up exacting revenge as his Man United side knocked Inter Milan out of the Champions League Round of 16 16 less than a year later when he picked up two assists.
Simeone got his own back when Lazio beat United in the European Super Cup later that year, but Beckham ended their battles on a high with England beating Argentina at the 2002 World Cup, which contributed to their surprise early exit, before Beckham beat Atleti while at Real Madrid soon after.
And as the photo showed, there was no hard feelings from some incredibly intense duels, as football was the winner in Doha.
Speaking to talkSPORT about the ‘98 incident that dogged Beckham’s early career, former Three Lions goalkeeper David Seaman explained that no one blamed the Man United star.
Asked if Beckham himself felt he’d let down the country, Seaman said: “Yeah, a little bit.
“But for me it was a really severe red card so I think the atmosphere was one of disappointment because we were out of the World Cup.
“But then you’ve got Michael [Owen] who had an unbelievable game and there wasn’t a massive amount of focus on Becks because we just felt it wasn’t a right decision.
“It was a yellow card all day long, it wasn’t a red card. We felt it had been unjust.”
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