Beckham to get UEFA award for football, humanitarian work

Australia confirms friendly against South Korea

David Beckham will get the UEFA President's Award for 2018 next week in Monaco to recognize his soccer achievements and humanitarian work.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder is "a true football icon."

The annual award rewards "outstanding achievements, professional excellence and exemplary personal qualities."

Beckham was the first English player to make 100 appearances in the Champions League. He helped Man United win the title in 1999.

Beckham also launched the 7 Fund in partnership with UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, which runs projects in El Salvador, Indonesia, Nepal and Uganda.

Ceferin praised Beckham for "promoting the game and all its values in every corner of the planet. His tireless humanitarian efforts ... should also be celebrated." Graham Arnold will have the first match of his second tenure in charge of the Australia national team when the Socceroos play South Korea in a football friendly at Brisbane on Nov. 17.

Football Federation confirmed the match at a news conference in Brisbane on Tuesday. The match will also be Australia's first since the retirement of veteran striker and leading goalscorer Tim Cahill.

Arnold, who first coached Australia in 2006 and 2007, takes over from Bert van Marwijk who guided the Socceroos to this year's World Cup in Russia.

He told reporters "to have the opportunity to play a team of the caliber of Korea Republic at home six weeks before the start of the AFC Asian Cup is perfect for our preparations."