McClaren hails Beckham
LONDON: Steve McClaren gave David Beckham a clear hint that the midfielder has played his way into England’s long-term plans after his influential display against Brazil.
Beckham took centre stage at Wembley as he marked his first England appearance since last year’s World Cup by setting up John Terry’s second half header.
Although Beckham was denied the perfect evening as Diego headed a stoppage time equaliser to earn Brazil a 1-1 draw, the Real Madrid midfielder’s presence helped to galvanise his previously moribund team.
Now all Beckham has to do is help England to a win over Estonia in Wednesday’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier to cement his place again just 10 months after his international career looked over.
McClaren’s fulsome praise for Beckham indicates that the former England captain could well be a key figure for his country next season.
“When David is playing well there is no better right-sided player in the world and he showed that tonight,” McClaren said.
“It was fitting he was involved in the goal. We thought we would have a chance of scoring on set plays. We nearly did once or twice before.
“His delivery was exceptional and JT doesn’t miss from there. It was apt and just a pity we didn’t get the result to go with that.
“Many people questioned the decision and there was been a great debate about it this week. But we picked David Beckham because of how he plays on the field.
“Since the New Year in his performances for Real Madrid he has looked fit and strong. He deserved his place in the team on performance.
“But our only focus now is on Wednesday. We wanted to get this game over and get a good performance. We are not looking beyond that.”
Beckham worked tirelessly to close down Brazil and his precise set-pieces were by far England’s most dangerous threat.
He went close with a curling effort in the first half and whipped in a perfect free-kick that gave Michael Owen a chance before picking out Terry for his goal with another perfect dead-ball delivery midway through the second half.
That ability to torment defences from free-kicks makes Beckham worth his place and McClaren is certain to stick with the former Manchester United star despite his imminent move to American Major League Soccer.
Beckham admitted he was delighted to be back and said: “I’m not sure I thought this moment would never come again, but I am very happy to be part of a historic night.
“I have always felt I had to fight for my place. I believe that wherever you are, whatever your name is, you have to fight for your place. I have done that wherever I have played.”
McClaren will take encouragement from the way his side, missing Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Gary Neville, competed against one of the world’s top sides.
Now they must build on that performance with a win in Tallinn, although he faces a nervous wait to see if Terry recovers from a hamstring injury in time to feature.
Beckham took centre stage at Wembley as he marked his first England appearance since last year’s World Cup by setting up John Terry’s second half header.
Although Beckham was denied the perfect evening as Diego headed a stoppage time equaliser to earn Brazil a 1-1 draw, the Real Madrid midfielder’s presence helped to galvanise his previously moribund team.
Now all Beckham has to do is help England to a win over Estonia in Wednesday’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier to cement his place again just 10 months after his international career looked over.
McClaren’s fulsome praise for Beckham indicates that the former England captain could well be a key figure for his country next season.
“When David is playing well there is no better right-sided player in the world and he showed that tonight,” McClaren said.
“It was fitting he was involved in the goal. We thought we would have a chance of scoring on set plays. We nearly did once or twice before.
“His delivery was exceptional and JT doesn’t miss from there. It was apt and just a pity we didn’t get the result to go with that.
“Many people questioned the decision and there was been a great debate about it this week. But we picked David Beckham because of how he plays on the field.
“Since the New Year in his performances for Real Madrid he has looked fit and strong. He deserved his place in the team on performance.
“But our only focus now is on Wednesday. We wanted to get this game over and get a good performance. We are not looking beyond that.”
Beckham worked tirelessly to close down Brazil and his precise set-pieces were by far England’s most dangerous threat.
He went close with a curling effort in the first half and whipped in a perfect free-kick that gave Michael Owen a chance before picking out Terry for his goal with another perfect dead-ball delivery midway through the second half.
That ability to torment defences from free-kicks makes Beckham worth his place and McClaren is certain to stick with the former Manchester United star despite his imminent move to American Major League Soccer.
Beckham admitted he was delighted to be back and said: “I’m not sure I thought this moment would never come again, but I am very happy to be part of a historic night.
“I have always felt I had to fight for my place. I believe that wherever you are, whatever your name is, you have to fight for your place. I have done that wherever I have played.”
McClaren will take encouragement from the way his side, missing Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Gary Neville, competed against one of the world’s top sides.
Now they must build on that performance with a win in Tallinn, although he faces a nervous wait to see if Terry recovers from a hamstring injury in time to feature.
“I think we looked like a team,” McClaren said. “We talked about it a lot since the Andorra game. We talked about the shape, the attitude.
“The key to today’s performance was the amount of challenges we won. We had a lot of defending to do and did it well.”
The only sour note for England was the booing of Frank Lampard by a small section of the Wembley crowd before the match and when he was substituted.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “I don’t think that is fair on any of the players. Frank is a tough kid and he has been through criticism before. He is only concerned with his performance on the field.”
Brazil coach Dunga admitted his side had done as well as could be expected at the end of a long, draining season.
“The players need to have more physical training,” he said.
“For example Kaka was tired. The game was fast and he needed to be in a better physical condition.
“They were all a little bit tired, but even then we still had six chances and we only trained for 30 minutes.” – AFP
source: The Star, Sunday 3June2007
