David Beckham’s England Career – Disappointment and Dedication

August 12th, 2010 | by: Daryl |

David Beckham’s England career, which began way back in 1996 against Moldova (call-up photo with then England manager Glenn Hoddle is to your left) received its notice of termination from Fabio Capello yesterday.

Not a huge surprise. Beckham is 35 years old and won’t be any younger by the time Euro 2012 gets here, and the English public, media and just plain old common sense demands an infusion of fresh talent. But seems a little harsh that Beckham wasn’t informed prior to the announcement.

Asked whether he had telephoned the midfielder to tell him that he would no longer be selected for competitive games, Capello said: “No. No. But I think I will speak with him. We tried to speak with him. I think David knows that he has no future with the national team because we have to change. Probably someone has rung him now before I called him. We tried to speak with him, but we haven’t managed to.

Softening the blow a little, Capello will offer Beckham the chance to play for England at Wembley one more time, in a friendly that basically be Becks’ final farewell to international football. Most likely that will be the England vs France friendly in November.

Beckham will retire as England’s second most capped player in history. He has 115 appearances now, and will make that 116 if he plays in the promised friendly. As an England fan I’d argue that Beckham’s international career has been oddly disappointing, since he never really performed at an international tournament. But what I would congratulate Beckham for is a genuine dedication to his national team. At a time when players routinely pull out of friendlies and retire/unretire from international football whenever it suits them (looking at you Zlatan Ibrahimovic), David Beckham has been consistently willing to serve his national team whenever called upon and in whatever capacity.

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http://england.worldcupblog.org/ Rob

Yeah, it is time, but he's been a magnificent servant to English Football, and can't be thanked enough. The penalty against Argentina is one of my favourite memories as an England fan (even if it was a shonky penalty)
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

Ha, agreed. Best bad penalty ever.
brentonwalters

What I think set him apart was his desire and his professionalism. He got on the pitch and gave it everything, and near the end was often the most outstanding player on the pitch, when he was seen to be washed up. That says as much about him as it does his teammates.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Isabel-Ghose/528855744 Isabel Ghose

Great player but Capello had no right to announce it in public without talking to Beckham first.
http://france.worldcupblog.org/ Jean-François Racinet

“Becks’ final farewell to international football. Most likely that will be the England vs France” Of course. Maybe the media will talk about how it's Becks' final game rather than slander those teams even more. It really sucks that Becks' is going to have to lose his last match. Oh well.
http://www.soccerlimeyinamerica.com SoccerLimey

It's my guess that Capello's stuck his size 10 in his mouth on this one. Beckham might just be the next player to retire from International football when he gets picked for the France game. If he does that, Capello deserves it for his dumb, classless act.
Bense235

Beckhams England career was like a hot chick you later on discover she's a lesbian. A prophecy that was never fulfilled… He was a good and at times great player, but never the second coming he was supposedly built up to be.