A LIFE-SIZE model of soccer superstar David Beckham was being unveiled yesterday as the centrepiece of a fine art exhibition.

The England captain is depicted as a Subbuteo figure with a plastic base, and rather than holding aloft the World Cup - a pose the player has admitted he has imagined - Beckham is shown proudly lifting his son Brooklyn.

The piece was unveiled at Sunderland University as part of the Arts, Design and Media degree show.

Creator Matthew Chaloner, 22, from Liverpool, said: ''Football used to have a very bad press and four years ago Beckham was seen as a villain.

"Now football is seen as a family game, and Beckham as a hero. I thought I'd combine the two. Brooklyn is Beckham's most precious trophy.'

"I think England can go all the way in this World Cup and he has proved himself a great leader of the team."

Matthew's piece, which took 17 weeks and 700 hours of work to complete, was part of his modelmaking and design honours degree course.

It was one of 100 students' work unveiled at the university's Ashbourne House, off Ryhope Road.