Beckham's Sydney FC praise: "Mate, that's world class"

Do you remember Brendan Renaud? Maybe by his nickname Rex? 

If you don't, it's hardly a surprise. In 2008, at 34-years-old, the former hardy NSL midfielder had all but retired. It's not that he was still playing at a high level, he just didn't think it was worth announcing his retirement. Who would care? 

As Aidan Ormond tells it, Renaud was making-ends-meet working for Sydney FC's community development team, spending his weekends at the barrell-end of Australian football, trying to spark some interest in a growing competition among the grassroots. 

The job had its perks. He'd been there in 2007 to see David Beckham's curling free kick in front of a packed house at ANZ Stadium. He also had a pretty good rapport with then-Sky Blues coach John Kosmina.

Kosmina was aware that Renaud was still working his socks off in the shadows to keep fit. So with the side nearing finals, and a highly technical midfield - including the likes of Juninho - needing a bit of grunt, Kossie knew the man he was after.

“My playing career had finished! I hadn’t officially retired," Renaud told  www.a-league.com.au.

"I suppose I never really thought of myself as big enough that anyone would care if I retired or not. But now, I was pretty much a footballer again.

“In my wildest dreams, the most I thought I'd be would be on the bench and supporting the team as a squad player.

“But I told ‘Kossie’, ‘I’ll give you everything.'"

Flash forward and Renaud had earned a regular first-team place right up until the elimination final, which Sydney lost to Brisbane Roar. It was a phenomenal achievement for the 34-year-old, but his fairytale ending wasn't finished there.

Sydney had a post-season tournament arranged in Hawaii, against David Beckham's L.A Galaxy, Houston Dynamo and J-League side Gamba Osaka. Of course, Renaud was the first on the plane.

“I was so grateful to Kossie. If he hadn’t done this, we wouldn’t be talking about this story ten years on," Renaud said.

“I’m so indebted to him and then CEO George Perry. It was a massive risk putting me in there. I could’ve easily broken down and not been up to it physically.

“Still to this day, I can’t thank them enough.”

So there was Renaud, the feisty red-haired journeyman, bumping up against the likes of Ruud Gullit, Dwayne De Rosario and Becks himself in sunny Hawaii. It didn't get much better than that.

"It was very surreal. It was like a celebration of football, that whole week," recalls Renaud. 

“It was the football Gods. I couldn’t play in Sydney in November but now I had a chance to be on the same park as this global icon," Renaud explains. 

"Kossie knew I would have loved to have played against Beckham in Sydney in front of my family.

"So he says, 'you're starting, son'.

Sydney FC faced L.A Galaxy in the second match of the tournament, so Kosmina put Renaud up against the English international. This was when Beckham was still near the peak of his powers and a pivotal figure for his national team.

“We were all thinking, 'Am I going to make a fool of myself?' This is David Beckham, one of the best footballers in that era," Renaud said. 

“I just didn’t want to get toweled up by Beckham. But I ended up skinning him. It was almost like an out of body experience.

"I thought, ‘shit, this is a global icon and I’m going toe-to-toe with him. I’m a 34-year-old who wasn’t even meant to be playing'.

“I’m thinking, ‘how good is this?’”

"How good is this" doesn't quite cut it. This is Renaud's goal, one of the finest in Sky Blue. (1:30)

“At halftime as we were walking off Beckham came over and said, ‘mate, that’s world class’.

“What else could I say? I was in awe.

“Just a few months ago I was a community development office and sort of retired. Now, this!

“An hour or two later after the game’s finished my mum and dad – dad passed away a couple of years ago – rang the hotel room and they’re screaming. They’re in tears.

“It’s a good lesson for young kids, how my career ended and my age. Never give up."

Renaud retired after that match. He now works in real estate.