Rooney is just starting to get the sort of attention that Beckham has had for the past six or seven years, but the Real Madrid star did not have it so young.

At 18, the impact Rooney is already having on Euro 2004 is bringing comparisons with Pele and Maradona in the way they made their mark at such a young age.

But Beckham has no fear that the Everton youngster will let it go to his head.

"I wasn’t playing for England at his age, but to be performing at this level at 18 years of age the way he is, he is a very special talent."

But it is no fluke, says his skipper. "He’s worked hard at his game and deserves all the praise he gets. But he just walks around with the other players, not making a fuss.

"He’s got good people around him, his family, girlfriend, and he’s coping very well with the attention, like it’s never happened. He can’t wait for the next game to come around and hopefully score again.

"In the game against France he ran away from a couple of players and held off a couple of players and it is not easy to do that against some of the best defenders in the world and he earned a lot of respect from them after that game.

"He’s an exceptional talent. The players and people in England all knew about him before this tournament, but now the rest of Europe are finding out about Wayne Rooney and we are very lucky to have such a good player in our team.

"It’s good that he got off to a good start and got his first goals."

Michael Owen, by contrast, is still looking for his first goal of Euro 2004 but Beckham is confident the Liverpool man will score soon.

"Michael’s been doing it at the highest level for years, yet he is still quite young. When he gets the first goal the rest will come.

"A lot of it is to do with confidence, especially for a striker, and Michael feels more confident now after setting up Wayne’s first goal against Switzerland. He just needs a chance and he’ll score.

"It is all about believing in your ability, and Michael has never doubted his."

Nor has the captain, despite some reports suggesting he has yet to hit his own high standards in the tournament.

"I was surprised how much fitness I’d lost since the season finished, but my levels have been getting higher with each game.

"The heat during the Switzerland game made it hard for all of us, but the Croatia game is at a kick-off time that suits us."

Beckham knows the nation will be watching on Monday, urging England through to the quarter-finals, and he says the players want to repay the fans for their support.

"It’s unthinkable to go out at this stage, so we are all concentrating on beating Croatia.

"We have grown in confidence as the tournament has gone on, but that is not to say we are taking Croatia lightly.

"They proved against France what a dangerous team they can be, and we respect that.

"But we want to finish the group with six points, so we cannot even think of going for a draw."

And the message to the fans? "The message is keep supporting us like they have been – each game has been like a home match for us, and we know what it has been like at home as well."

Click on the links below to hear the press conference in full.

19 June 2004
David Beckham Press Conference - AUDIO