David Beckham was spat at in the street after fans blamed him for England's exit from the 1998 World Cup.
David Beckham was met with a torrent of abuse after the 1998 World Cup
The 48-year-old retired footballer has admitted he was deeply affected by the fallout 25 years ago, and he wishes he could "erase" the memories from his brain after getting sent off for kicking Argentina captain Diego Simeone after being pushed to the ground.
Reflecting on the backlash in new Netflix series 'Beckham', he said: "Wherever I went, I got abused, every single day.
“To walk down the street and see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things that they said.
"That’s difficult... The whole country hated me."
The then-former Manchester United star - who was 23 at the time - insisted the "stupid mistake" actually changed his life, with fans losing their minds over the incident.
He added: “I wish there was a pill that you could take that could erase certain memories.
“I made a stupid mistake... It changed my life.”
In the weeks following the match, he reunited with his future wife Victoria Beckham (then Adams), who revealed she was pregnant with their first child just before the World Cup, at a Spice Girls gig at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
Victoria admitted: "I remember really not understanding how serious it was, what had happened because you know, I’d never really been into football.
“I love watching him play football but then I love whatever he does.
"He could be painting a wall and I’d love watching him painting a wall. It was him that I wanted to support.”
She recalled how her partner "felt he let himself down", as well as his teammates, the fans and "his country".
He struggled due to the response, as David admitted he "was a mess" at the time, not eating or sleeping.
Friend David Gardner added: "He’d walk down the streets and people would be spitting at him. But he never reacted, not once."
Even now, the footballer has started "beating himself up" over the way the backlash impacted his family.
Beckham reflected: “It brought a lot of attention that I would never wish on anyone, let alone my parents.
“And I can’t forgive myself for that, that’s the tough part, what happened then. I was the one that made the mistake...
“It’s only now that I beat myself up about it.”
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