"I want every England supporter to know how deeply sorry I am", David Beckham said as he realised that English football supporters needed a scapegoat for any English World Cup failure! The evening before, he had been sent off in the England v Argentina, second round World Cup tie, on this day in 1998. Many of us, of a certain age will remember watching the "coming together" as Beckham, lying on the ground, with opposition player, Diego Simeone, walking past, who fell limply over Beckham's raised leg. Beckham did appear to lift his leg for no particular reason??
Beckham wanted the World to know that he hoped to be able to make amends by being part of the England team being successful in a future European Championship or/and World Cup. Hope these links work...they are of the same incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6rzLecQF6s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWsEuczNj48
The campaign had been up and down for David who had played in all the qualifying matches but was dropped for the start of the tournament. Manager/coach, Glen Hoddle suggested that he had been distracted by his recent relationship with Spice Girl, Victoria Adams! Beckham denied this and took his chance when finally selected against Colombia, scoring from a 25 yard direct free kick. Having been selected for 17 internationals, this was his first goal for his country.
The next international game ended in a personal disaster for Beckham, with the Simeone incident, though few will remember his brilliant pass to pick out team mate Michael Owen, who scored with a spectacular solo goal. England lost on penalties! It was 3-4 with Batty (1st) and Ince (4th) failing to score in the 5.
Hoddle stood by Beckham saying, "It was a mistake. It was foolish thing to ddo and he has got to realise that he cannot do that sort of thing at this level. It was a mistake but we can't go overboard about it and I am not looking for anyone to blame." Nobody listened much and The Daily Mirror roused anger in the masses by publishing a paper with a dartboard with Beckham's face on it! An effigy of Beckham hung from a noose outside a South London pub, The Pleasant Pheasant! Death threats were sent and sponsorship deals closed!
The referee, in that game, Kim Milton Nielsen, couldn't understand what all the fuss was about! "It is only football, it is a nice thing, but it is not the whole world. There are wars and places where people do not have enough food. These are far more important! I hope he can learn from this and he needs to be more relaxed. People like Maradona and Pele had to put up with some very bad fouls throughout their careers, far worse than what happened to Beckham."
The following season, with crowds baying for his blood In England, he was an influential figure in Manchester United's Treble win!!
BTW...Shearer a penalty (10'), Owen 16' scored for 2-2.
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