'Sh*t! Am I going to be treated like Beckham?' - David Seaman opens up on fears of severe backlash after Ronaldinho free-kick goal at 2002 World Cup

Seaman was caught out by Barcelona icon Ronaldinho at the tournament in Japan and South Korea, with his effort from distance ending up in the back of the net to give Brazil a 2-1 lead. The Three Lions failed to find an equaliser, resulting in them exiting the tournament at the quarter-final stage, leading the former Gunners No.1 to wonder about the reception he'd receive upon his return to England.

Indeed, Beckham was completely vilified by the press, as well a significant number of England fans, for his part in the country's loss to Argentina back in 1998. His red card for petulantly swiping his leg at Simeone led to an often unacceptable outpouring of abuse that severely impacted the former Manchester United winger and his family.

After being asked by Adebayo Akinfenwa about that Ronaldinho free-kick, Seaman admits he thought about Beckham and the backlash that might be about to follow: "He scores that goal and we've still got half an hour left. And it's the knockout stage now. I'm on the pitch thinking to myself: 'Sh*t, if the scoreline stays like this, am I going to get treated like Beckham did in '98?' 

"Those sort of things are going through your mind. When the stakes are that high... in the end I was okay, alright, we lost 2-1, that goal cost us but then when I got home, we landed at Heathrow and there were a lot of England fans and they all just started singing my name. Thank God for that."

Asked whether Ronaldinho meant to shoot at goal from that distance, Seaman added: "I was told straight after the game that he didn't [mean it], by Gilberto Silva. But it doesn't matter. It still went in. I've been told so many times that he didn't [mean it]. 

"What was funny, we were playing Soccer Aid [in 2016] and he was playing for the Rest of the World, and he got a free-kick in a similar sort of position and I just walked back to the goal and stood and pointed at that top corner. 'Go on then, see if you can do it again!' And he was laughing his head off."

Seaman has earned legendary status at Arsenal for his contributions that saw him help deliver two Premier League titles and four FA Cups. Prior to joining the Gunners, however, he had the chance to move to Manchester United.

Revealing a phone call he received from Sir Alex Ferguson, Seaman says:  "He (Sir Alex) came on the phone and he said: 'I'm going to come in for you in the summer - I want you to be my goalkeeper.' I was like: 'Okay!' I put the phone down to Sir Alex and I'm now thinking: 'I'm going to be a Man United player'. Literally about a week later, Arsenal made a bid for me. 

"Sir Alex wanted me to wait until the summer so then there was no fee as I was out of contract. Arsenal now make a bid for me just before transfer deadline day. I'd lived in London for four years when I was at QPR, my family were settled... so I go and have talks with Arsenal, we agree everything but there was one problem, one player had to leave, and that was John Lukic. We were mates. He was like: 'No, I'm not going anywhere', so the deal fell through. I didn't sign."

Seaman would eventually get his switch to the north Londoners in 1990, after then-Arsenal goalkeeper Lukic was moved on, and he would go on to make over 500 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners.

Back in 2003, Seaman made what is often described as one of the greatest saves ever witnessed in English football during an FA Cup semi-final win over Sheffield United at Old Trafford. Flinging out his right arm, the former England goalkeeper miraculously manages to stop Paul Peschisolido from heading home an equaliser from point-blank range, with Seaman admitting he didn't realise at the time that the save would go down in history.

He says: "When the corner comes in, there's a few ricochets, people trying to head it towards goal, so I've gone to one position, and then I've had to come back to another position for what I thought was a header at goal. Then it ends up coming back across to Peschisolido, he gets a head or shoulder on it, which is good for me as it gives me a little bit of time. But I remember diving backwards and thinking: 'I can't take this with me because I'm going in the goal'. So I scoop it out, I end up in the goal and then as I look up I see [Phil] Jagielka, and he's going to smash the rebound in... and he puts it over the bar. Thank God. If that goes in, nothing gets said about [the save].

"You always need a little bit of luck. It wasn't until I saw it on tele... I was like: 'That was decent'. If you look at the save, watch my face as I get up, it's proper serious. I remember Ashley [Cole] coming up to me, I don't know what he said, probably swore at me, telling me how good it was. But then I saw it on TV and I was like: 'Oooft, that was good'."

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