Steve McLaren, England's new coach, axed David Beckham from the English squad for the upcoming friendly game against Euro 2004 champions Greece. This comes about a month after Beckham resigned from being the team's captain after England's early exit from the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Does this event signify that the 31 year old winger's services will no longer be needed by the national team?
Let's face it. Beckham's performance recently has not been what everyone expected. He has disappointed everyone both at the international and club level. Beckham played a total of 94 games wearing the Three Lions uniform but fans can only recall a couple of games for which Beckham was a determining factor for the final result. One is the World Cup qualifying game against Greece at Old Trafford in 2001 when Beckham's last minute free kick goal led his team to the tournament finals. The other is none but the winning goal against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup that made up for his ejection from the same game 4 years earlier during his first World Cup appearance.
England supporters were asking for Beckham's dismissal from the squad after the rather poor showing in Germany's tournament. Beckham scored the winning goal with a free kick against Paraguay but disappointed in the games against Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden. He went on to score his team's only goal against Ecuador in the round of 16 even though his performance was rather unimaginative. He followed that with poor play against Portugal when he was substituted due to an injury; England lost that game in the penalty shootout and exited the World Cup competition much earlier than everyone expected, once again.
McLaren explained his dismissal of Beckham saying, "I spoke with David last Monday and notified him of my decision and said I was planning for the future, to change things and go in a different direction, and that David wasn't included in that." With the likes of Lennon and Wright-Phillips, McLaren will have no difficulty replacing Beckham. However, he has left the door open for the return of the Real Madrid star something that Beckham himself admits is possible, "I'm proud have played for England for ten years and my passion for representing my country remains as strong as ever. I'd like to wish the best of luck to John Terry and will offer him my complete support in the future." John Terry is of course England's new captain.
About the Author Paul B. is a sports writer with a focus on soccer. He writes for many different websites and most recently he joined the Soccer Headquarters at http://www.YourSportsLive.com
