Soccer: Argentines won't suck me in again says the new Beckham

TSUNA - England captain David Beckham, sent off against Argentina four years ago, said yesterday that he would not be sucked into another petulant kick when the two teams meet tomorrow night.

Beckham's red card at St Etienne in France'98 was considered a major reason why England were eliminated in a penalty shootout after extra time, even though his team survived 70 minutes without him.

Beckham was shown the red card by Danish referee Kim Milton Neilsen for a retaliatory kick at Diego Simeone after the Argentine had pushed him over.

"Would I walk away this time? Yes I would," the Manchester United star said.

"I feel that I can handle pressure now. When it's thrown at me, I feel that I can kick it straight back."

After England's disappointing 1-1 draw with Sweden, Beckham will lead the team against Argentina at Sapporo knowing they dare not lose.

Yet he believes Argentina, who beat Nigeria 1-0, are not as great as some people think.

"[Diego] Maradona recently said something like Argentina weren't much better footballers than us, they were just more cunning.

"Maybe that's right, but we're footballers and we're looking forward to every game. I want to beat every team that we play," Beckham said.

"People will hype this match up, and rightly so, because there are so many things that have happened.

"But we, as players, have to put that to one side and concentrate just on the game."

He welcomed the fact that tomorrow's match will be refereed by experienced Italian Pierluigi Collina.

"Collina is the best referee in the world," Beckham said.

He regretted the fact that his sending off against Argentina in 1998 had been the focus of so much attention.

"I don't really think anything when I see replays of it, to be honest," he said.

"Obviously, because Argentina are in our group, it's been played over and over again, and people have asked me about it. But it's in the back of my mind.

"It has changed me as a person and a footballer. What has been the most rewarding thing for me, though, has been winning the people over through my football and on the pitch.

"I could have done interview after interview, explaining myself and talking my way round it. But I've just gone out there and worked hard to get to where I am today.

"And I have worked hard at that. It's just been an amazing turnaround for me over the past four years."

Decades of bitter rivalry will come to the surface tomorrow night.

Victory for Argentina would give them six points and a guaranteed place in the second round.

Defeat for England would make them prime candidates for elimination. A win would throw the group wide open.

However, the fates of the teams will only be part of a passion play that started on an ill-tempered summer's afternoon in north-west London 36 years ago.

A fiery quarter-final between the sides at Wembley was settled by a late header from England forward Geoff Hurst, but only after some vicious tackling ended with Argentina's Antonio Rattin being sent off amid angry and sustained protests.

The win paved the way for England's victory as hosts of the 1966 tournament, but the score was controversially settled 20 years later at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium.

Four years after their two nations were at war over the Falklands, England again faced Argentina at the quarter-final stage.

The deadlock was finally broken five minutes into the second half, when Diego Maradona leapt up to punch the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton, the goal famously dubbed the "Hand of God."

England's protests came to nothing, and to rub salt in their wounds Maradona followed up with one of the greatest goals ever scored when he dribbled past half the England team before rounding Shilton.

Though Gary Lineker pulled one back, England had come out of their shell far too late in the game to change its direction, and like Bobby Moore's side in 1966, Maradona's Argentina went on to win the cup.

As if that was not enough history between the sides, there was no shortage of drama in their second-round clash at St Etienne in 1998.

One penalty apiece, a wonder goal from 18-year-old Michael Owen and an equaliser from Javier Zanetti left the clash poised at 2-2 at the start of the second half.

But then Beckham was ordered off.

It was not to be England's night, and when David Batty's spot-kick was saved in the penalty shootout, their stay in France was over.

England have played Argentina 11 times, winning on four occasions and losing on three. Whatever the outcome tomorrow, the 12th meeting of the two countries on a football pitch will not be dull.

- AGENCIES

nzherald.co.nz/fifaworldcup

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