Becks still feels hurt
David Beckham continues to feel the hurt from the 1998 World Cup -
when he was vilified by the nation.
The then Manchester United star was red-carded playing for England
against Argentina and despite going on to lead his country -
Beckham is still saddened when he looks back.
"I always dreamt of winning the World Cup. I still look back to
1998, after the red card I got against Argentina and what went on
in my life and my family's life was very tough," Beckham
revealed.
"It was probably the toughest moment in my career - I was having
death threats and I never felt safe for three-and-a-half years,
people used to turnaround and say that 'you have let your country
down and that you have let your family down - so how does that
feel?'. I don't think I have felt so alone as that, as a person or
as a footballer, you can knock a person down so much you can go
under.
"Outside pubs in London, there were effigies hung of me and this
was on the front of the newspaper and that is just something that
sticks in my mind from this time - I am trying to think what was
said about me at the time, there was one headline - Ten lions and
one stupid little boy."
Beckham - speaking as part of Adidas' new 'Impossible is Nothing'
campaign, revealed how he managed to overturn the disappointment of
France '98.
"One saying I use all the time, and it is true - 'It is a round
world'. In 1998 just before the World Cup I was at the top and just
after the World Cup I was at the bottom - and then you work your
way back up, the up side for me was the Greece game," he
continued.
"Once the game started it was the start of an incredible day for
me, it was either going to the World Cup or going into the
qualifying games, which none of us wanted to do because of the
expectations.
"I remember Teddy Sheringham getting a free-kick on the edge of the
box and I remember putting the ball down and looking up at the
clock and thinking this is it, this is the only chance I am going
to get, and the only thing I could hear was the man with the drum,
I stepped back and as soon as it left my foot I knew it was
in.
"It was the loudest I have heard the fans - it was a the moment for
everyone, I remember being that excited and I could have touched
the top of the stadium - I was that high."
