1996 Atlanta Olympic Games gold medalist and former Chelsea left-back Celestine Babayaro have named Manchester United legend, David Beckham as the toughest opponent he faced in his career.
Babayaro, who played for eight years at Chelsea before moving to Newcastle United, said the former England captain provided him with the most difficult challenge.
”The toughest player I played against? I played against a lot of really top players, players like Ronaldo, Figo, Ryan Giggs and so on. But I will tell you this, the most difficult player I ever played against is David Beckham,” Babayaro said.
“You know why? You don’t even need to go close to him, all he needs to do is control the ball, open his body up and cross it.
”One of the best crossers of the ball in the world, so for you to mark that kind of person is very difficult because he can cross the ball from anywhere even from the halfway line.”
Babayaro is recorded as the first African player to be signed by Chelsea when he moved to Stamford Bridge from Anderlecht in 1997.
