A kick in the Golden Balls

It seems to be one setback after another for David Beckham.

The footballer who could once do no wrong has now been upstaged by an 89-year-old.

Beckham's boots are to be filled by screen legend Kirk Douglas in a new Pepsi ad. The commercial has a similar gladiator theme to the £3million campaign in which the footballer starred last year.

The new advert parodies the 1960 Oscar-winning film Spartacus, by reworking the classic scene when the Romans promise to spare the slaves' lives if they identify Spartacus.

Douglas, who plays Spartacus, starts to stand up to accept his fate.

But, almost instantly, the valley is filled with men crying 'I'm Spartacus!' and a tear trickles down Douglas' cheek.

Pepsi said it was celebrating a classic movie with humour and a touch of irreverence.

A small consolation for 29-yearold Beckham is that the ad will be screened only in North America.

Nonetheless, his reputation as the golden boy of fashion is slipping fast.

Dripping with 'bling' jewellery, the Real Madrid player has fallen from grace in style circles to be voted the worst dressed man in Britain in a poll by GQ magazine.

He had won GQ's best dressed crown for the past three years but now the magazine has turned on him, crowning him King Chav.

Shoe designer Manolo Blahnik, one of the judges, described Beckham as 'the original fashion victim'.

And Sunday Times fashion editor Claudia Croft, who also took part in the survey, said: 'Suddenly he is totally wrong. He looks overdressed and poncey. You look back on Beckham-mania now and think, "What was all the fuss about?". He looks ridiculous.'

Little Britain's David Walliams, who came fifth on the best dressed list, said: 'He doesn't have style. He has a lot of new clothes.'

Other fashion victims were Jonathan Ross, John McCririck and Prince Harry, who recently picked a Nazi uniform to wear at a fancy dress party.

In vogue is Beckham's England team-mate Rio Ferdinand, who topped the best dressed man list.

And Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, once mocked for his everpresent grey overcoat, came second for his 'sober but unique look'.