Beckham eager to play on for England
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.David Beckham maintains he is determined to have an impact on the field for England again - despite being linked with a coaching role should Fabio Capello be axed as manager.
The 35-year-old Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder missed out on the chance to play at a fourth World Cup finals when he suffered a ruptured Achilles while on loan at AC Milan.
However, Beckham was invited along as part of the England group by Capello and sat on the bench for what turned out to be a wretched campaign, which ended with 4-1 defeat to Germany in the last 16.
The future of Capello, whose contract runs until after the 2012 European Championships, remains uncertain as the Football Association weigh up their options.
It has been suggested former Manchester United and Real Madrid star Beckham should take charge of the side, backed up by more experienced coaches, a bit like Diego Maradona has done with Argentina.
However, Beckham, who holds the record number of appearances for an outfield England player at 115, insists he is not ready to move into the dugout just yet.
Beckham told Yahoo! Sport: "While I am flattered to be talked about as a coach and am always available for my country, whenever I am needed, I still see myself as a player and remain supportive of the manager."
The England midfielder, however, accepts the Three Lions were just not good enough in South Africa.
"We didn't play at the level we knew that we were capable of," said the former England skipper.
"Over the four matches we weren't good enough and regardless of the goal that never was, Germany played better than we did over the 90 minutes and deserved to go through.
"Having seen the lads in training, the spirit was good, everyone trained at a really high level, it was just disappointing we couldn't transfer that onto the pitch.
"As a team, we have to learn from everything that's happened, come back stronger and play to our potential."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments