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.