David Beckham has reiterated his determination to continue his international career ahead of the start of England's World Cup Qualifying campaign.
Fabio Capello's side face Czech Republic in a friendly at Wembley on August 20 before they kick-off their campaign with an away match against Andorra on September 6.
Beckham has featured in friendly matches against France, where he won his 100th cap, and the games against USA and Trinidad and Tobago.
And the 33-year-old former captain is optimistic he can remain part of Capello's plans to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"Going into these [World Cup] qualifiers, it's important that we perform and we get through, and of course I want to be part of that," Beckham said in an interview with talkSPORT.
"I'm keeping myself fit and playing well in order to be part of it - I definitely want to part of it, but we'll see.
"I definitely want to carry on playing for England. But everyone knows how things can turn around and change in football. I want to be part of those plans in South Africa."
Asked if he was still committed to playing for England, Beckham said: "That's never going to change. No matter where I am or who I'm playing for, I always want to be involved in playing for my country.
"I've always said that, even when I wasn't included in games for the Euro 2008 qualifiers. People expected me to come out and retire and to say that I didn't want to play for England again.
"But I've always said that's not going to happen. As long as I'm playing I want to be involved in playing for my country.
"Everybody realises how much I love playing for my country and how passionate I am about that.
"As long as I keep myself fit and healthy and perform on the pitch, then hopefully I'll give myself a chance to be involved."
The LA Galaxy midfielder also revealed that he found Euro 2008 painful to watch after England's failure to qualify under former boss Steve McClaren.
"Going into the European Championships I felt physically sick whenever I heard anything about them and also through the games," Beckham added.
"I saw some of the Spanish games and I did want Spain to win because of having lived there. It's a very passionate country and they deserved some success at that level.
"But we definitely don't want that [England not qualifying] to happen again. It was devastating for the fans and devastating for the country.
"To not have the England fans at the European Championships is something that shouldn't happen because everyone knows we have the best fans in the world.
"They travel the world because they support their country like no other fans do."
Fabio Capello's side face Czech Republic in a friendly at Wembley on August 20 before they kick-off their campaign with an away match against Andorra on September 6.
Beckham has featured in friendly matches against France, where he won his 100th cap, and the games against USA and Trinidad and Tobago.
And the 33-year-old former captain is optimistic he can remain part of Capello's plans to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"Going into these [World Cup] qualifiers, it's important that we perform and we get through, and of course I want to be part of that," Beckham said in an interview with talkSPORT.
"I'm keeping myself fit and playing well in order to be part of it - I definitely want to part of it, but we'll see.
"I definitely want to carry on playing for England. But everyone knows how things can turn around and change in football. I want to be part of those plans in South Africa."
Asked if he was still committed to playing for England, Beckham said: "That's never going to change. No matter where I am or who I'm playing for, I always want to be involved in playing for my country.
"I've always said that, even when I wasn't included in games for the Euro 2008 qualifiers. People expected me to come out and retire and to say that I didn't want to play for England again.
"But I've always said that's not going to happen. As long as I'm playing I want to be involved in playing for my country.
"Everybody realises how much I love playing for my country and how passionate I am about that.
"As long as I keep myself fit and healthy and perform on the pitch, then hopefully I'll give myself a chance to be involved."
The LA Galaxy midfielder also revealed that he found Euro 2008 painful to watch after England's failure to qualify under former boss Steve McClaren.
"Going into the European Championships I felt physically sick whenever I heard anything about them and also through the games," Beckham added.
"I saw some of the Spanish games and I did want Spain to win because of having lived there. It's a very passionate country and they deserved some success at that level.
"But we definitely don't want that [England not qualifying] to happen again. It was devastating for the fans and devastating for the country.
"To not have the England fans at the European Championships is something that shouldn't happen because everyone knows we have the best fans in the world.
"They travel the world because they support their country like no other fans do."
No comments:
Post a Comment