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Beckham's bitter-sweet memories as England captain
By Tim Rich (Telegraph.co.uk)
Updated: 2005-11-10 09:35
The penalty Beckham drove into the centre of the Argentine goal in Sapporo
three years ago to seal a victory as impressive as any achieved under Sven-Goran
Eriksson, was one of the last spot-kicks Beckham can recall with any
satisfaction. Since then, there have been spectacular misses against France,
Portugal and Turkey and when England were awarded a penalty against Austria at
Old Trafford last month, Frank Lampard, rather than his captain, stepped up to
convert it.
 "I never like to give up things," he said. "I always
believe I can succeed in whatever I put my mind to. But I think it is better for
the team to have a regular penalty taker, like Frank who takes them for Chelsea,
rather than me who hardly ever takes them for Real Madrid."
This will be quite a week for Beckham, who has been suffering from muscular
spasms in his back. Should he perform indifferently in Geneva, in the wake of
England's fine display against Poland without him, the debate will begin anew as
to whether he is worth his place in Eriksson's side. And when he returns to
Madrid, there is the small matter of the gran clasico - Real versus Barcelona,
the one fixture that can put England versus Argentina in its place.
''I have had some problems with my back but I want to
play," he said. "These are great games to be involved with but you can only
really feel them on the pitch."
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