Pierluigi Collina has revealed that his favourite player of all time is David Beckham. The Italian, who has established himself as the most respected referee in the world game, collected the shirt worn by England's captain against Argentina during last summer's World Cup, a match in which Beckham scored the only goal from the spot.

"There is one player I'd like to mention out of a purely subjective feeling, without recounting incidents or explaining whys and wherefores," Collina writes in his autobiography, The Rules of the Game. "If I was simply responding to the question: 'Who is your favourite player?' I'd say: 'David Beckham.'"

Collina has an extensive collection of shirts, including the one worn by Ronaldo in the 2002 World Cup final, but has lost the Beckham souvenir to his daughter Carolina. "There's no way of getting it back from her," he writes.

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