Beckham will not retaliate

Beckham will lead the England team on Friday

David Beckham insists he will not suffer a repeat of the red card he was shown when he last played against Argentina in the World Cup.

Beckham was sent off for his petulant reaction to a Diego Simeone challenge when England lost out to Argentina in France '98.

England v Argentina revisited

But he has since been made England captain, and believes that he has finally buried his temperamental streak.

It's been an amazing turnaround for me over the past four years

David Beckham

"Would I walk away this time? Yes I would," he said. "I feel that I can handle pressure now. When it's thrown at me, I feel that I can kick it straight back.

"Maradona recently said something like Argentina 'weren't much better footballers than us, they were just more cunning'.

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"Maybe that's right but we're footballers and we're looking forward to every game. I want to beat every team that we play.

"People will hype this game up and rightly so as there are so many things that have happened. But we, as players, have to put that to one side and concentrate just on the game."

Beckham recovered from his red card in 1998

The 27-year-old played down any suggestion that he will carry a grudge into Friday's game in Sapporo, but admitted the incident with Simeone had a considerable effect on his career.

"It has changed me as a person and a footballer," said Beckham. "What has been the most rewarding thing for me though has been winning the people over through my football and on the pitch.

"I could have done interview after interview, explaining myself and talking my way round it. But I've just gone out there and worked hard to get to where I am today.

"And I have worked hard at that. It's just been an amazing turnaround for me over the past four years."

But for all the talk of forgetting that night in St Etienne, Beckham was still relieved to hear that the suggestion that Kim Milton Nielsen would again be the referee had been a joke.

"Don't do that to me!" he said, adding a word of praise for Italian Pierluigi Coillina, the actual match official: "Collina is the best referee in the world."