Soccer player David Beckham had a tearful goodbye after his last game as a professional in the sport at Saturdays match. After a longstanding soccer career, mixed with highs and lows on the pitch, the goodbye of beloved Paris Saint-Germain mid-fielder David Beckham was met with tears in the audience and from Beckham himself. Watch the emotional video below.

When Beckham was subbed out at the end of the game, Beckham cried and tightly hugged his Paris Saint-Germain teammates like it was his last game...because it was. After the announcement of his retirement Thursday, when he walked off the field, the whole crowd felt his overwhelming emotion, cheering and giving David a much deserved standing ovation.

"To end my career in front of a crowd like that, with players like that, it's very special," Beckham said. "It started about 20 minutes before that, to be honest. I started thinking and then, you know, I couldn't concentrate by then, and it was difficult. You know, you try to hold the emotion back because it is what it is, but it's difficult."

The former England national star won championships with four clubs, beginning with Manchester United and continuing with Real Madrid, the Los Angeles Galaxy and finally Paris Saint-Germain.

The 38 year old legendary English midfielder played his final football game at the highest professional level. He had a huge impact on soccer, bringing the popular European sport much needed credibility to the US.

"It's very hard to specifically quantify" what Beckham has meant to the U.S. game's growth, said Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, but several milestones followed his arrival: MLS attendance is up, there are more live games -- MLS and otherwise -- on television, the L.A. Galaxy has become a global brand, and most important, a sport that commanded only a few column inches of coverage 20 years ago now enjoys widespread coverage by the nation's sports media.

"David helped in that. He's certainly given the sport a lot of exposure," Gulati said. "He increased the visibility of the sport and growth of the game, which was already on a good path."

It certainly didn't hurt that he married Victoria Beckham, Posh Spice, who is famous in the U.S. for her "posh" style, and fashion line. Being linked to the woman who is constantly pictured in US magazines and tabloids helped the sport become recognizable to women in the US.

And let's not forget the cult followed movie "Bend It Like Beckham" that was wildy successful in the US. The 2002 British comedy-drama film starring Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, was first released in the United Kingdom, but became a smashing success in the U.S. It went on to become the highest-grossing Indian-themed film ever in the U.S. with $32 million in box office revenue.

And of course...those killer looks. David Beckham is not just the hunkiest player on the pitch, he's the hottest athlete of all time. He's neck and neck with Football player Tom Brady, but wins on the hotness scale by one goal.

So what is it about Becks that makes him so appealing? It's his that combination of humbleness, unique playing, and grand persona that makes Beckham bend it like Beckham.