It took 12 days of travelling 800 miles into the Amazon rainforest, but finally David Beckham found what he was looking for: a whole village of people who had no idea who he was.

The ex-England captain, one of football’s biggest stars, said his trip was inspired by a walk across a London park after a five-a-side game following his retirement.

He said: “All of a sudden I was on my own walking through a park and thinking, ‘you know, I haven’t done this for 15 years’. That was kind of the first thing that made me think I should do something where I can go into a situation I’ve not been in before.”

Becks was joined by three friends to fly into Rio de Janeiro then continue their journey by motorbike, canoe and plane to meet the remote Yanomami tribe, but even then his wife was not sure he would keep his anonymity.

He said: “Victoria was not convinced they wouldn’t know who I was, but I was kind of 95 per cent sure that I wouldn’t be recognised by the tribe –­ and I was right.

“The fact is, for the past 22 years my every day has been on a schedule and the fact that I woke up in Rio and we said, ‘let’s go to the favelas’, and we can have lunch when we want and have dinner when we want and kind of talk about what we wanted to and to meet people that I’ve never met before – that was refreshing.

They didn’t know who I was, they didn’t know what football was, and it was incredible

“And then obviously as we went along the trip I was being less and less recognised and by the end of the trip, when we were with the tribe, they didn’t know who I was, they didn’t know what football was, and it was incredible.”

Beckham, whose trip brought him into contact with everything from snakes to spiders, said one of the most frightening things was a frog that jumped on their tent.

He said: “On this trip I was like,420774 snakes – not a big fan of; spiders – also not a big fan of; but frogs were the thing I was kind of not sure I wanted to come across. And one of the first animals that we saw was a bright orange frog, which unnerved me even more.”

The former Manchester United star stayed one night in Manaus, where England will play one of their group games, and said he was not worried about the players performing in the tropical climate.

“Obviously I took a good look at the stadium because I knew England would be playing there in a few months.

“I wouldn’t say they’re going to struggle because I know they’re going to be well prepared, you know, Roy Hodgson is a good manager and will prepare them.

“It’s a massive game against Italy, the first game in the World Cup for England, it’s huge. People talk about the humidity, but like I said, the players prepare for this.”

David Beckham: Into The Unknown is being shown on British channel BBC One at 9pm tomorrow.