David Beckham
AGE: 31
OCCUPATION: Professional soccer player
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 1
PRO: International sports icon who has been soccer's biggest commercial draw for the past decade. He recently signed a five-year $50 million contract to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
CON: He has never been top-ranked and, with his performance recently declining, critics have cast Beckham as a washed-up midfielder who accepted the contract because he could no longer compete in Europe.