Beckham ready to inspire England

By Phil McNulty
Chief football writer in Baden-Baden

Beckham's World Cup displays have been criticised in some quarters

England captain David Beckham insists he can provide the ammunition to fire his team to World Cup glory.

Beckham, 31, has had a low-key World Cup, but believes he can be a match-winner in the last-16 clash with Ecuador if he gets better supply.

He said: "My personal game is about getting the ball.

"To get the best out of me is about giving me the ball in a yard of space, then I'll deliver it to someone to score. I've done that for many years."

Beckham added: "And 99% of the time I will put it in the right place.

There cannot be any excuses and I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it David Beckham

"In the last three games, what has been difficult is that two players have been doubling back on me."

Beckham's "99%" statistic may not be backed by his recent performances.

He was anonymous against Sweden, although he did provide Peter Crouch's face-saver against Trinidad and Tobago.

To that end, it appears coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has sacrificed the desperately unfortunate Jamie Carragher to give Beckham more assistance against Ecuador.

Owen Hargreaves, excellent in the central midfield holding role against the Swedes, is now in line to move to right-back.

Eriksson's theory is that Hargreaves may be more of an over-lapping full-back than Carragher, who is a brilliant natural defender.

But it is also an indicator that Beckham does not possess the boundless energy of his younger days, and needs more assistance in pulling players away from him in order to deliver his crosses.

Beckham's bold claim, plus specific tactical assistance from Eriksson, means the captain has put his reputation on the line as the World Cup reaches the business end.

He also knows there can be no excuses now if England fail to deliver on their pre-tournament optimism.

Beckham said: "There cannot be any excuses and I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it.

"At the end of the day we have gone out of competitions when we should have gone further in the past and there have been certain excuses and things said by players.

"But it's literally up to us now. We are the ones who can progress as a team.

"The players in this squad, who have been in World Cups before, do realise that these chances do not come as good as this that often."