PROUD TO PLAY
International caps - 107 (58 as captain), International goals - 17
David Beckham made his England debut against Moldova in August 1996.
Two years later, he was selected for the 1998 World Cup squad and scored his first goal for his country, a trademark free-kick in a group game against Colombia. Disaster struck in the second round match against Argentina when David was sent off after tangling with opponent Diego Simeone. England went on to lose the match on penalties and go out of the World Cup.
The following months were the toughest of David’s life as he was made a ‘scapegoat’ for England’s World Cup exit. He did what he knows best and continued to work hard on the football pitch putting in strong performances for his country and winning honours with United.
His strength of character was rewarded when David was appointed England captain in late 2000 by caretaker England manager, Peter Taylor. Sven-Goran Eriksson took over as coach and chose to keep David as leader of the side. The following matches saw some of David’s most memorable games in a Three Lions shirt including a 5-1 win in Germany and a sensational last-minute free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford to secure England’s place at the 2002 World Cup.
David’s World Cup life came full circle when he scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot against Argentina in 2002. England’s World Cup campaign was eventually ended in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Brazil, coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Two years later, Scolari was again the architect of England’s downfall when his Portugal side knocked them out of the Euro 2004 quarter-finals on penalties.
England went into the 2006 World Cup in Germany with high hopes. Despite not playing to their full potential, they cruised through their group and another Beckham free-kick gave them victory over Ecuador in the second round. That goal meant he became the only player in England football history to have scored in three World Cups.
But things again went wrong at the quarter-final stage against Portugal and Scolari. Just as in 2004, the game went to penalties and again England lost. The following day, an emotional David resigned the captaincy after nearly six years.
Since then, new coach Steve McClaren had signalled his intention to try something different by leaving David out of his first few squads, but David stuck to his task at club level, working hard on the pitch and in training and the coach eventually recalled the midfielder to the squad exactly one year after his last game to play in the friendly against Brazil.
David immediately responded by setting up England’s goal in the 1-1 draw at Wembley and he remained in the squad for the duration of England’s attempt to qualify for Euro 2008. Sadly qualification was beyond the national team this time and Steve McClaren left his post to be replaced by former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello.
Once again David proved his worth to the coach and was duly awarded the honour of his 100th cap in a friendly against France at the Stade de France, becoming only the fifth player to achieve such a milestone. David remained in the squad for the remainder of the season and Capello offered him a further honour when he named David captain for the friendly against Trinidad and Tobago.
With qualification for the World Cup up next for England, David’s passion to play for his country remains undimmed.
