Beckham makes Swiss vow

By Phil McNulty
Our man with England

Butt injury blow

David Beckham has vowed to take out the pain of defeat against France on Switzerland.

After his costly missed penalty Beckham said: "Nothing will defeat me. My mentality is to carry on until I win.

"Everyone knows there are things that have gone on in my life that I have got over and I will continue to do that.

"There is a lot of frustration from the France game and that will be taken out on Thursday. As soon as that whistle goes we'll be at them."

The England skipper added: "The anger is the good part for the players now. It's not anger where we want to go out and kick players.

"It's anger where we want to go out and win games, and make people believe in us."

Beckham revealed how coach Sven-Goran Eriksson calmed England's players before the game, and picked him up afterwards.

The English mentality has always been about wearing your heart on your sleeve England skipper David Beckham Beckham's penalty vow

He said: "I was sat there on my own. That's when the manager came in and said that it was important that I, as captain, responded in the right way.

"I would have done that anyway but it helped to have those words."

Beckham added: "The English mentality has always been about wearing your heart on your sleeve and that's not changed.

"But obviously Mr Eriksson brings calmness to the team as well.

"The last thing he said to us the other night before going out was 'keep your heads'. Not many managers have probably said that over the years.

"The calmness of the manager is very important. It definitely rubs off on us as the players were really psyched up.

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"But the way in which we kept our positional play - which had not been the best in the two friendlies before that - was perfect."

Beckham now fully expects England to bounce back from the defeat against France with a powerful performance against Switzerland.

He said: "That's a great thing about being English. People do get knocked down but when they respond in the right way, English people respect that.

"If this team can do that, the team will be loved even more than it is now.

"If we can do that by winning the game on Thursday, that will be good for us in the future."

Beckham is used to being seen as both hero and villain for club and country - and insists he can handle the pressure.

He said: "It's been the same for me like that for the past 10 years - I'm either up here or down there."

That's been a strength of ours, you can play the ball over the top and you've got Michael on the end of it England skipper David Beckham Terry to get Swiss role

And Beckham is convinced the strike partnership of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen is developing, despite the Liverpool striker having a disappointing night against France.

He said: "That's what is good about having Michael and Wayne.

"Wayne can come short and hold the ball up, turn and run at players.

"As you saw the other night, people are petrified by him. To say that about some of the best defenders in the world is a great testament to Wayne as a player.

"Having Michael as well gives you something different. That's been a strength of ours, where you can play the ball over the top and you've got Michael on the end of it."

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