Pepsi football ambassador and England Captain, David Beckham, reveals the training secrets behind his world-famous free kicks in the fourth episode of Pepsi’s new global TV programme, The Pepsi World Challenge, on MBC Channel at 7:00 PM on Saturday 20 May 2006.
Travel to Madrid, Spain, with our 22 young footballers from across the world and enjoy a football master class with David Beckham to learn how a global icon hones his world-class skills.
After a warm-up training session in the historic park of El Retiro, our young players are put through a rigorous series of skills tests under the watchful eye of David Beckham. Designed by David himself, the tests are to assess and improve their individual skills but as the day progresses, watch how the difference between amateur and professional skill really begins to show.
This week’s challenge takes place in the awe-inspiring Pavillion Cristal which is part of Madrid Arena. After a demonstration and tips from the man himself, tests include trying to replicate Beckham’s renowned free kick technique and precision passing drills to score as many points as possible for their team.
Could you bend a ball around five defenders? When it really counts, could you deliver that winning pass? Which of the Pepsi players do you think will hit the spot and take home this week’s breath-taking prize? Enjoy watching the young footballers as they battle to impress worldwide footballing hero, David Beckham; applaud those who rise to the challenge and decide which pair you think are the ones to watch as The Pepsi World Challenge roars into its penultimate episode next week.
In between tests, England and Real Madrid star David Beckham commented on the series of drills he had designed for The Pepsi World Challenge: “I think they’re all quite difficult skills and tests. The one where you had to chip the ball into the circle, I think that was the one where we got the most varying scores out of the tests that we’ve done. There’s a lot of talent here, they’ve done well in each test but I think that was the one they enjoyed most.”
Prior to training with David Beckham in Madrid, the 22 young footballers in The Pepsi World Challenge learnt about the best leadership techniques at Manchester United in England, coached by Manchester United captain Gary Neville. Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos encouraged passion and flair for the game in Barcelona, Spain, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while world-class striker Thierry Henry took the 22 footballers to London, England and Cairo, Egypt, to nurture the skills necessary to become an international role model.
Khalid Al-Buraihi and Abdullah Al-Turkustani were selected from thousands of hopefuls to represent Saudi in The Pepsi World Challenge, and you can watch their life-changing journey to discover what it takes to be a world-class footballer every week on Saturday MBC at 7:00 PM local time.
About this episode:
• In London, England, temperatures were so low that some young footballers “saw” their breath for the first time in their lives.
• The young footballers trained in London at Battersea Park.
• The winning ad campaign was chosen by Thierry Henry.
• Training in Egypt was at the Marriott Hotel Golf course in Cairo
• Egyptian coaches who assisted in Cairo comprised:
o Mostafa Riad: a previous national player and currently coaching for Tersana club.
o Abo Amin: a previous national player and currently coaching the Juniors in Mekawleen club.
o Mohamed Kamal: currently coaching the Juniors in Shams club.
o Abd El Fattah Abbas: currently coaching the Juniors in Mekawleen club.
o Mahmoud Mowafy: expert in the Egyptian Football Union
About The Pepsi World Challenge:
• The Pepsi World Challenge takes two players from 11 countries across the globe to compete in a series of challenges with football heroes such as David Beckham, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry for six weeks in across the world.
• Players are competing for the ultimate cash prize of $100,000, as well as to experience an ‘access all areas’ pass to the world of Pepsi football and great prizes at the end of each weekly challenge.
• Young footballers from the following 11 countries took part:
United Kingdom, Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, China, Thailand, Bahrain and Romania.
• The six episodes follow the following themes:
o 1: Passion & Flair
o 2: Role Model
o 3: Leadership Skills
o 4: Individual Skills
o 5: Fitness
o 6: Coping under Pressure
• Pepsi, part of PepsiCo Beverages International, a division of PepsiCo Inc, has a strong heritage with football and has enjoyed past and present relationships with some of the biggest players in the world. By inviting consumers to get closer to world class football talent and dare for more, Pepsi is again showing its dedication in providing unique football experiences to consumers’ daily lives in almost 200 countries across the globe
