Beckham warns England against complacency

April 3, 2009

Despite holding a 100% record in their World Cup qualification group, David Beckham has insisted that he and his team-mates avoid complacency in the remaining games.

As things stand, England sit five points clear at the top of Group Six at the halfway stage. They are clear football betting favourites to win the group and therefore qualify automatically for the World Cup in South Africa next year.

However, Beckham – who won his 100th cap on Wednesday night against Ukraine – has stated that no one should be looking forward to the World Cup until England are ‘actually there’.

The 33-year-old says that the Three Lions cannot afford to make the ‘mistake’ of believing that the hard work is done. He admitted that the team is ‘playing well and getting results’, but was keen to point
out that there is a long way to go as yet.

As for the most recent qualification game for England, well it was a very hard working performance. They had to be patient throughout and eventually got their reward when John Terry popped up six minutes from time to seal the win.

One of the most crucial factors in ensuring that England kept going in this game, according to Beckham, was the excellent fans that packed out Wembley once again. The AC Milan midfielder says that the noise and excitement from the England faithful ‘keeps us going’ when things aren’t going quite so well.

There have been times in recent months when this wasn’t the case so much and England fans were quick to get on to the players. Under the previous manager, there were a number of games which were overshadowed by an extremely negative atmosphere inside Wembley.

This doesn’t seem to be the case anymore though and Beckham admits that if the fans encourage like they did against Ukraine every time, it would ensure that every player gives ‘110 per cent’ each time they pull on the England jersey.

By Thomas Rooney

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