Today on C4: We discover that David Beckham can look bad in photos; meanwhile, his wife could use a smile.

Have you seen their new Tumblr yet? It’s gnarly.

You don’t need a fan stampede to remind you that David Beckham is a global icon and remains adored in China. He and his wife visited the set of the Chinese show Football Night《足球之夜》recently, where they dazzled. Got 52 minutes to kill? Check out these stars at work.

At least five people were injured in a stampede this afternoon at Shanghai’s Tongji University as hundreds of spectators, many of them students, jostled for a closer glimpse of David Beckham.

An ambassador for Chinese football, Beckham was scheduled to take the field alongside the Tongji team and a local youth team, but the event was cancelled.

The international icon posted the following message to his Sina Weibo account at 4:39 pm:

I had an incredible response from everyone at Shanghai Tongji University today, sorry I couldn’t get out on the pitch to see the teams It was impossible to get through the massive crowds. I heard there were a few injuries, hope the fans are ok and I wish them a speed recovery.

Pictures and video of the incident are beginning to surface all over Youku, Sina Weibo, and other places. The above is a ground-level look at the madness as fans surround Beckham’s car. The below is a bird’s-eye view:

We’re surprised more people weren’t hurt, honestly.

Here’s another look from the ground. The cameraperson was smart for staying out of the fray:

Youku vids of the above:

David Beckham arrived in Beijing yesterday, kicking off his second tour of China as soccer ambassador. (His first trip, in March, saw him hilariously whiff on a free kick.) The positive publicity couldn’t have come soon enough, considering the Chinese national team’s humiliating 5-1 thrashing at the hands and feet of Thailand’s youth team on Saturday. What was one of the first things Becks did?

Join Sina Weibo, of course. Check out his first post:

Hi I am David! Welcome to the OFFICIAL David Beckham Sina Page! Talk to you soon!

The man joined yesterday but already has 455,000 followers.

SCMP samples some reader responses:

“Thank you for coming to Sina! Welcome! You are so cool!” wrote one Weibo user in response.

Not everyone was so friendly though.

“Even this guy can be in headlines. [There are] too many fools in China,” wrote one user.

Some fans asked the former Manchester United player for his advice on how to save Chinese soccer, which has long suffered from a deteriorating reputation.

Beckham has answered variations of that question — how to save Chinese soccer — in the past: more youth programs. Get kids to actually want to play the game. China does not seem to care about David Beckham’s advice.

If you attempt to kick a ball while wearing loafers on perfectly trimmed grass, this is liable to happen — even if you’re the best 37-year-old free-kick-taker in the world.

Look at that elderly Chinese man reaching out to help. Look at the dude with his foot on the ball, too cool for even bemusement. We hope the old white man in the suit whipped out his point-and-click in time.

This was in Wuhan, Hubei province on Saturday. Here’s Becks executing a much better free kick a few days earlier in Beijing.

Several British outlets have noted that Beckham slipped “again,” a reference to this disaster in the Euro 2004 quarterfinals:

Don’t get mad, English football fans. We give you this:

And one more look:

Beckham also stopped by Peking University on Sunday, where he did this:

(Eurosport, h/t Alicia)

David Beckham, China’s first ambassador for soccer, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning to a, well, David Beckham welcome. Fans waited for hours for him to arrive to Shijia Hutong Primary School, where he played soccer in dress shoes and a butoned up shirt. He also kicked the ball around at the FC Guo’an practice facility. The above video is him arriving at the scene.

After Thursday, the former Los Angeles Galaxy, current Paris Saint-Germain star will head to Qingdao and Wuhan to complete his four-day China tour. Four days really isn’t enough, is it?

Pictures via Daily Mail:

Here he is at the Guo’an training facility. Man’s still got it:

Via Yahoo

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