David Beckham has announced that he is standing down as England captain in the wake of the defeat in the FIFA World Cup™ quarter-final against Portugal in Gelsenkirchen. Beckham made the announcement in an emotional statement during a press conference on Sunday morning. He said that after almost six years in the job he believes the "time is right to pass on the armband" as England enter a new era under Steve McClaren, the successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson whose last game in charge coincided with England’s departure from the tournament. Reading from a statement he said he had written on Saturday night, Beckham, 31, said: “I have lived the dream and have been extremely privileged to have worn the armband and been captain of England and for that I’ll always be grateful.” The Real Madrid player, who was forced off with a knee injury during Saturday's game, stressed that he intended continuing as a player for his country. The decision to relinquish the captaincy, he said, had been made “some time ago” but he had hoped to announce it on the back of success in Germany. “This is the most difficult decision of my career to date,” added Beckham, who was captain for 58 of his 95 appearances for England. “I have discussed it with my family and those close to me and the time is right. “Our performances in this World Cup have not been enough to progress further and all the players regret that and are hurt by that more than people realise. I wish to thank all the players for their support during my time as captain, Peter Taylor, Sven and all the coaches. “I’d also like to thank the press and of course the England supporters who have been great to me and my team-mates and for me it’s been an absolute honour.” Beckham’s first game as captain came on 15 November 2000 in a friendly game with Italy while Taylor was in temporary charge, prior to the appointment of Eriksson. Under him England reached the quarter-finals of both the 2002 World Cup - losing to Brazil - and UEFA EURO 2004, where they lost, as on Saturday, to Portugal on penalties. http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060702/1/8ido.html
Not only is there rumor that he step down as captain of the English team, but there's also rumor that he may end his career in the MLS -ohmy within the next while -ohmy -ohmy http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-sp.beckham02jul02,0,7639000.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines I hope this isn't true because the MLS is .......... (I have no respect for American soccer).
Well he had always siad that he would like to end his football career in America... Anyway since he said someone else should take the role of the captain i think it would be Gary Neville or John Teryy probably.
Wouldnt even matter, he lives in this huge mansion and name it after his name. On the plus side, he's also bloddy rich and probably have enough money for the next 2 generation if he uses them wisely -_-2
I think he wants to play until he gets 100 international caps and then decide on his international carrer for england. who will replace him as english captain.Gerald,Terry?
It'll depend on his perfermance, if he plays crap, there's always the likes of aaron lennon there to replace him. Anyway he's close to getting his 100th cap for England.
i dont remember the last good game he had for england, im sure the new manager will keep him the x11 whether he deserves it or not
new era.. game changes.. speed is needed.. beckies is way too slow for such new attacking tactics.. lennon is very very good but still have heaps to improve on.. i reckon terry will b the captain.. steven gerrard is very good liverpool captain, but he hasn't been improving for england at all.. unless steve mclaren brings in new tactics, new squad.. perhaps england will ve a better chance in nxt world cup...AND STUPID SVEN..ROONEY CAN'T PLAY LONE STRIKER OKKKKKKKKKK
well good luck to beckham....sad to see him step down but i think he made the right choice...it's about time
Oy, I was very disappointed to hear that...Beckham being my favorite football player..along with Zidane. Although he's stepping down as captain, I hope to see him still;]
beckham has been an over rated player for about 3yrs now -- just that ericson (prev engl mgr) was just too stupid and loyal to drop him and with this, hes accomodated beckham at the cost of the team but this leads onto the discussion of ericson just being gutless -- gerrard and lampard? give me a break, gerrard is clearly the better player even if lampard is tehcnically better -- dont get me wrong i hate liverpool and chealsea so there is no bias here