MANCHESTER: Manchester United turned David Beckham into an international superstar and on Tuesday he bid an emotional farewell to Old Trafford before he quits European soccer for the United States.

Beckham joined United in 1991 at 16, debuted the next year, and transferred in 2003 to Real Madrid. In July, he's expected to start a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer.

"The time I spent at this club was the best time in my whole football career," Beckham told 74,343 supporters at halftime of a charity match to celebrate United's 50 years of European competition and the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome as the foundation of the European Union.

Injury had forced Beckham to withdraw from the match that Manchester United won 4-3 against Europe XI.

Personal thanks

Since he moved to Spain, the 31-year-old had returned to the stadium in northwest England as England captain but hadn't been able to personally thank United for 14 trophy-filled years.

"I've waited four years to actually come back and to actually say thank you to the fans and the people of the club," he said.

Beckham won six English Premier League titles and a Champions League medal during his United career.

He told supporters that he was grateful for the strong support shown in his darkest hour. In 1998 he became a public hate figure after being sent off for England in a World Cup match against Argentina.

"I think I wouldn't have got through many things without the people in this stadium," he said.

Ferguson is the best

On the pitch, he publicly supported his former manager Alex Ferguson who struck Beckham's eye with a football boot in a dressing room bust-up on the eve of his departure.

"Everybody knows here that you've got the best manager in the world at this club," he told the crowd to rapturous applause.

This season, United is on the verge of emulating the historic treble that Beckham won here in 1999. The team leads the Premier League by nine points and remains in contention for the Champions League and FA Cup.

"I think this team is going to be incredible and I think they're going to go on and win many things, not just this year but throughout many years to come," he predicted.

"So good luck and thank you."

Meanwhile on the field, United was able to relax and turn on the style against a European side which suffered from late withdrawals, including Barcelona's Ronaldinho, but still started with four of Italy's 2006 World Cup winners in a line-up drawn from seven of Europe's top clubs.

It was no match for United in the first half, though, as Wayne Rooney scored twice and Wes Brown once with Olympique Lyon midfielder Florent Malouda replying for Europe, who missed a penalty through Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ronaldo's quick feet bewitched the European defence and 10 minutes before halftime he curled a 35-metre free-kick past Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares and into the top corner.

Diouf nets two

The European side changed its line-up after the break and pulled two goals back with a header and a penalty from El-Hadji Diouf, which United hope will not be a taste of things to come for Saturday when Diouf returns to Old Trafford with his Bolton team. — Agencies

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