David Beckham: 'My son's soccer snub broke my heart'

Retired soccer star David Beckham felt broken-hearted when one of his sons gave up on a dream to follow him into the sport.

The former England star has three sons and a daughter with his wife Victoria, and his eldest boy, Brooklyn, 16, recently ditched plans to become a professional soccer player after bosses at top London club Arsenal decided not to offer him a scholarship. He is now pursuing a career in acting and modelling.

Beckham has now opened up about the pressure all his sons feel to be good at soccer, telling ABC News, "One of my boys turned around to me the other day and said, 'Daddy, you know, I'm not sure I want to play football all the time...' It broke my heart a little bit... (He said), 'Every time that I step onto the field, I know people are saying, 'This is David Beckham's son', and if I'm not as good as you, then it's not good enough.' I said, 'Okay, stop right there... You play because you want to play.'"