Gary Lineker said he "overacted" in Bend it Like Beckham appearance 20 years on

Gary Lineker couldn't help but laugh as he reacted to his cameo appearance in Bend It Like Beckham 20 years on from its release.

The legendary England striker portrayed himself in the iconic football film in the presenter role which he has made his own since retiring. As the 2002 film has been such a big hit in the two decades since, Lineker reflected on his involvement with the BBC.

"Crikey I look a lot younger," he chuckled as he watched the clip. "I think I overacted a little bit but at the time I was wondering why I didn’t win a bafta. Now I can see it.

"It’s actually a funny scene, because obviously you’re in there and you expect her to go 'aw she did really well' and this and that, and then obviously the exact opposite. She’s not happy at all that she's playing this ridiculous game called football, which I can totally understand," Lineker joked.

Bend It Like Beckham remains the highest-grossing football film of all-time, having made $76.6million (£58.9m) at the box office. It's a level of success which Lineker didn't expect all those years ago.

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He continued: "When I did it, I can’t remember why I said yes because I kind of turned down a lot of opportunities for things like that normally, but I think I did like the script and thought it was quite cute and funny.

"But I never imagined it would be the success that it obviously was. There’s no question that football does unify the nation.

"You see it in World Cups or European Championships where everyone gets behind England. In fact, that's the only time we do probably come together.

"Anything that involves football and getting more people to play it or different people from the Asian side of things as well, I think it was one of the attractions to doing it."

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