David Beckham has dismissed a German newspaper's vicious attack on his family as "sad".
The England football captain furiously hit back at the personal onslaught in mass circulation tabloid Bild, describing it as a lowly attempt to shake his team's morale.
He said: "When it comes to my family that is one thing I won't accept and never will.
"I find it sad that one person drops to the level of criticising my family, but it is one sad person thinking of what they can do to put me off my next game."
The article attacked his sister Joanna for being "fat", joked that his sons Romeo and Brooklyn were "dwarves" and described his mother Sandra as having the smile of a "peasant"
Sports journalist Tobias Holtkamp insists he was being humorous when he wrote the article.
He said: "It was meant to be funny and should not have been taken so seriously.
"The English translation makes it sound much worse than I intended."
David - who is married to former Spice Girl
Victoria Beckham - was careful to emphasise his quarrel is with Holtkamp not the German people.
He added: "This is not about my anger with the German people - it is with one person."
