16 August 2005
Press Conference: David Beckham

The England captain talks to the press shortly after arriving in Copenhagen ahead of the international friendly against Denmark.


David Beckham has urged England to ride on the back of the Ashes feelgood factor – and give football fans something to cheer about too.

Becks admits he got caught up in the drama as England’s cricket players performed so well against Australia in the Second and Third Tests recently.

But now he wants the Three Lions to match their cricketing counterparts and put a smile on English football as they face a friendly in Denmark on Wednesday.

England also face crucial qualifying matches against Wales and Northern Ireland in September, with success at the World Cup Finals next summer their ultimate goal.

Captain Beckham said: "I’m not a big cricket fan myself but even I found myself watching it this week. I was watching how tense it was right down to the last ball.

"To see 21,000 people turning up to watch the cricket at Old Trafford is exceptional and it’s good for our country to have different sports doing well.

"When major competitions come up our fans are the best in the world, there’s no doubt about it. They travel all over the world and we apparently have four or five thousand coming to watch us in Denmark, which is tremendous.

"To see the support that our country gives to the national teams is incredible and it inspires us."

Beckham admits there is huge expectation surrounding the current England team, with talk that we could challenge for the ultimate prize in Germany next year.

He knows, too, that there is still a lot of work to do to qualify for that event – but believes Sven’s men will justify their billing as World Cup contenders.

He said: "There’s always pressure on the England football team because the expectation is there, and rightly so. With the talent we’ve got people expect great things and hopefully we can deliver at some point. That’s what we want to do.

"I feel very excited going into a World Cup year and it’s very exciting for our country because the team is very strong.

"If we can finish top of the group and qualify then we can look forward to a World Cup that is going to be special."

Beckham has a strong feeling that England will excel in Germany if we can get there and says world champions Brazil are already taking notice of our progress.

He said: "Even teams like Brazil are commenting on some of the players we have got in the team, so we must have something special there.

"I was reading a magazine on the plane on the way over here and one of the top Brazilian stars, I won’t name him, was talking about the talent we have coming through – and obviously Wayne Rooney was mentioned because as everybody knows he’s amazing.

"A Brazilian team is always going to be one of the biggest threats in a World Cup Finals because the quality that they have is incredible. They have some of the best footballers in the world and they are definitely the number one threat.

"But we are confident. Obviously we have to qualify first but once that hard part of the job is done we can go into a World Cup with a very strong team, with a lot of experience and a lot of young players coming through."