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DAVID BECKHAM WITH ENGLAND |
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Beckham's name was frequently mentioned in
the press, and he made his first appearance for the England
national football team on 1 September 1996, in a world cup
qualifying a match against Moldova.
World Cup 1998
Beckham had played in all of England's qualifying matches for
the 1998 World Cup and travelled with the England squad to the
finals in France, but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly
accused him of not concentrating on the tournament, and he
didn't start in either of England's first two matches. He was
picked for their third match against Colombia, which England
needed to win to ensure their progress in the tournament, and
played well, scoring one of his trademark free kicks in a 20
victory.
In the second round of that competition, he received a red card
in England's match against Argentina, for kicking out at Diego
Simeone following a foul challenge by the Argentine. As Beckham
lay on the pitch he held out his right leg as Simeone backed
into it and fell over. Simeone later admitted to trying to get
Beckham sent off by over-reacting to the kick and then, along
with other members of his team, waving imaginary red cards at
the referee, urging him to send Beckham off.
The match finished in a draw and England were eliminated in a
penalty shootout. Many supporters and journalists blamed Beckham
for England's elimination and he became the target of criticism
and abuse, including the hanging of an effigy outside a London
pub, and the Daily Mirror newspaper printing a dartboard with a
picture of him in the middle. However, several tabloids later
apologized for their excessive criticism, which also died down
after Simeone confessed that he had tried to bait Beckham into
retaliating.
Winning over the England fans
The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters
peaked during England's 32 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000,
when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the
match with chants including "we hope your kid dies of cancer". Beckham responded with a one-fingered gesture and, while the
gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that
had previously encouraged his vilification asked their readers
to stop abusing him. According to an article by Stephen
Thanabalan for World Soccer magazine, the effective turning
point for the media came as a result of a realisation that they
had a need to promote a responsibility and positivity in the
game in educating the public, as by the end of Euro 2000, it was
becoming clear that the abuse of Beckham was run as a mere
vehicle for certain perpetrators to platform hooliganism or hate
campaigns in the sport, and it was damaging to not just the
England team, but to the reputation of English Football and the
FA Premier League in general. Secondly, the media realised then
that Beckham was a crucial linchpin the side increasingly looked
dependent upon as even though the team was knocked out in the
group stages, any criticism of Beckham simply had to be
emanating from unprofessional grounds because on the pitch,
Beckham was arguably England 's best performer at the tournament.
Beckham's crosses assisted in all the side's goals against
Portugal (scored by Steve McManaman and Paul Scholes), and
against Germany (scored by Alan Shearer). The goal against
Germany was extra significant too because it symbolised
Beckham's ability to help the Three Lions overcome the ghosts of
her recent past- namely, Euro 1996.
Following Kevin Keegan's resignation as England manager in
October 2000, Beckham was promoted to team captain by the
caretaker manager Peter Taylor, and then kept the role under new
manager Sven-G๖ran Eriksson. He helped England to qualify for
the 2002 World Cup Finals, with their performances including an
impressive 51 victory over Germany in Munich. The final step in
Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's
2 2 draw against Greece on 6 October 2001. England needed to
win or draw the match in order to qualify for the World Cup, but
were losing 21 with little time remaining. With Teddy
Sheringham being fouled some eight yards outside the Greek
penalty area, England was awarded a free-kick and Beckham
ensured England's qualification with a curling strike of the
kind which had become his trademark. Shortly afterwards, he was
voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001.
World Cup 2002
He was partially fit by the time of the 2002 World Cup and
played in the first match against Sweden. Beckham scored the
winning goal of the match against Argentina, with a penalty, and
that caused Argentina to fail to qualify for the playoff stage.
England were eventually knocked out of the tournament by Brazil
in the Quarter-Finals.
Disappointment at Euro 2004
Beckham played in all of England's matches at Euro 2004, but the
tournament was a disappointment for him. He had a penalty saved
in England's 2-1 defeat to France and missed another in a
penalty shootout in the quarter final against Portugal. England
lost the shootout and went out of the competition.
2005-06 season
In October 2005, while playing in the World Cup Qualifying match
against Austria, Beckham became the first England captain to be
sent off, and the first player to be sent off twice while
playing for England. Nonetheless, England held on to win the
match 1-0 and later qualified for the 2006 tournament due to
results elsewhere.
Four days later they beat Poland 2-1 to top the qualifying group.
Shortly afterwards, Beckham was sent off while playing in a
league match for Real Madrid against Valencia CF. Having
received a yellow card, he appeared to sarcastically applaud the
referee and was given a second yellow card, causing an automatic
dismissal, athough the dismissal was cancelled on appeal two
days later. |
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