Beyond Beckham; Does any other player have what it takes to become a global brand?

Byline: Malcolm Beith (With Ginanne Brownell in London)

Nursing a broken foot, Wayne Rooney hobbled off the pitch just 27 minutes into England's Euro 2004 quarterfinal against Portugal to the applause of millions of television viewers worldwide. His tournament was over, but what a formidable run it had been: Rooney had slotted in four goals and given his team the boost a lackluster David Beckham had failed to provide. Surely the 18-year-old Rooney was the One, thought giddy football pundits from Birmingham to Bangkok, the golden boy who would replace Beckham as the new face of football. But the hype died down as soon as the question of dollars translated into sense. Sure, Rooney is a very good player, declared one commentator, but what could he possibly sell--"potatoes?"

In the Age of Beckham, it takes more than deft ball skills to become a global football icon. A player's ability to sell team shirts, shaving cream and everything in between has become ever more crucial to a football club's ability to establish itself as a global brand. At the top of the food chain stands Beckham--the sarong-wearing star whose chiseled good looks, family-man image and celebrity status have helped hawk everything from Gillette razors in the United States to Meiji Seika chocolates in Japan.

But all good things must come to an end, and the Age of Beckham is no exception. At 29, Beckham is entering the twilight of his career; the football industry is beginning to contemplate how to fill the void that his decline as a player and eventual retirement will create. Indeed, that question was on the minds of many of the world's club bosses and marketing execs who attended the annual football trade fair in Dubai last week. Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd declared bluntly that Manchester United had lost some of its "stardust" since letting Beckham slip away to Real Madrid in 2003. Now the whole industry is worried about losing its luster.

There is no obvious candidate to fill Beckham's Gucci sandals. Rooney, 19, is too uninspiring off the field; the pug-faced Liverpudlian has only local appeal and lacks a celebrity aura. The same goes for Real Madrid's Michael Owen, although he's cute enough to win female fans. Other stars, like Manchester United's Portuguese heartthrob Cristiano Ronaldo, Italian Francesco Totti of AS Roma, Argentine wonder boy Javier Saviola of Monaco and Arsenal's No. 1 Frenchman Thierry Henry have potential. But their global reach is limited by one important factor: "They don't have the English-language feature," says Dominic Malcolm, a sports-economics lecturer at the University of Leicester and author of "The Future of Football." Speaking English has come to be regarded as a vital asset for any footballer hoping to win over fans from Buenos Aires to Bangkok. The consensus is that the next Beckham may well have to be English or American, just as most global pop icons are.

The lack of such a figure is leading European club executives and sponsors to concentrate on filling region-specific marketing needs, particularly in Asia, which is now seen as the merchandising gold mine that could help bring Europe's ailing teams out of the red. When Crystal Palace signed Chinese stars Fan Zhiyi and Sun ...