-David Beckham right here!
[ Cheers and applause ]
The new owner -- The new owner and president
of soccer operations of the Inter Miami CF.
This is a major deal. -Yeah.
You know, I'm very proud of being an owner of my own team.
You know, I'm from the East End of London,
so to say that I've had the career that I've had,
obviously playing for some of the teams I've played for
and now being an owner of a team here in the U.S.,
it's really exciting. -It's really cool.
-Yeah. -Did you ever think as a player
that you would ever be an owner? -No, never.
You know, I loved playing the game.
But to be honest, I never really wanted
to go into being a manager or really a coach.
So obviously, to have the opportunity to be an owner,
especially in a city like Miami --
You know, Miami's an incredible city.
-Oh, it's so much fun. [ Cheers ]
-I mean, they're always having fun in Miami.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. Apparently.
-Yeah, oh, everywhere. Even if you go to Starbucks
at 6:00 in the morning, there's a conga line going in there.
[ Laughter ]
It's so fun. There's rumors out there
that you were trying to get Messi and Ronaldo
to come play for -- -Yeah.
-Is that true? -Well, you know what?
We've -- We've got great opportunities down in Miami,
and we've been contacted by a lot of different players
with possibly coming to join the team.
You know, as any owner, you really want the best players.
And if we have the opportunity to bring in players
like Cristiano or Lio Messi --
You know, I've got such admiration
for both of them as athletes.
If we could bring those players in, then great.
But at the moment, you know, we have a great roster of players,
young players, a couple of experienced players, as well.
But a lot of young players that are just ready to play.
And one of the things I always learned from Sir Alex Ferguson,
who I used to play for at Manchester United,
he'd turn around to me, and he said,
"Whoever you bring in, you know,
they have to be the right fit for the club."
It's not about bringing the biggest name
or the biggest personality or biggest player.
It's all about the player that will fit in best
with the players, and, you know, that's what we'll do.
But like I said, you know, as an owner,
if you want to bring these players in,
then we have a great opportunity.
-Now, do you have a -- Is there a stadium yet?
-We have a stadium.
We have a training facility down in Ft. Lauderdale.
So, that's exciting.
You know, we only broke ground on the stadium,
our facility, 10 months ago.
So there's a lot been done in 10 months,
which is incredible, because it took seven years
to get to this point. -Seven years?
-I announced it -- Seven years ago, I retired.
And then, two days after that, I flew to Miami,
announced that we were doing the team in Miami,
and I thought, "Two years,
we'll be up and running. I'll have a team."
Fast-forward seven years, we're there.
-Yeah, like eight LEGOs, done, completely.
[ Laughter ] You're like, "All right."
Your wife's like, "Get something going, honey.
Uh, let's go." Yeah.
And your first match is this weekend?
-First match is this weekend in L.A. against LAFC.
-Oh, I know LAFC. -Yeah.
-You know why? One of the owners of that is Will Ferrell.
-Yeah, Will. Will's a great guy.
I love watching him in the stands because
he's obviously very funny, but he's so animated with,
you know, the support that he gives to his team.
And I love -- I love that.
And, hopefully, I'll be bumping into him this weekend
because there will be a bit of banter, I'm sure.
-Oh, my gosh. That would be fantastic.
Well, I want to say good luck, and come back.
-Thank you. -And, yeah.
Maybe I'll go to Miami. I'll check out a match.
-You should, you should. -That'd be fantastic.
-You're more than welcome. -Thank you, brother.
[ Cheers and applause ] -David Beckham.