Beckham admits premeditated foul
Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:43David Beckham has admitted the foul on Ben Thatcher that earned him a yellow card in England's World Cup qualifying win over Wales was premeditated.
The England skipper clattered Thatcher in what appeared to be retaliation for a tackle, which left him with a cracked rib and no chance of facing Azerbaijan on Wednesday.
However, Beckham claims that he took the decision to get booked in order to get a one-game ban out of the way while he was injured.
"It was deliberate," Beckham told The Daily Telegraph. "I am sure some people think that I have not got the brains to be that clever, but I do have the brains."
"I could feel the injury. So I fouled Thatcher. It was deliberate. I knew straight away I had broken my ribs. I have done it before. I knew I will be out for a few weeks, so I thought: Let's get the yellow card out of the way."
"It's a frustrating injury because there is no treatment. I can't go running or training because it hurts too much. The last time I broke my ribs Alex Ferguson put me on a bike after two weeks and I couldn't do it. I couldn't breathe. There is nothing you can do apart from rest," he added.
Meanwhile, England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson today promised to take care of the controversy surrounding David Beckham's booking against Wales later this week.
Beckham, who suffered a fractured rib in the 2-0 win at Old Trafford, has revealed he deliberately got booked so he would serve the suspension by missing tomorrow's World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan while injured.
But Eriksson remained non-committal this afternoon on whether he would take action against his captain, and insisted he wanted the focus to remain on the match in Baku.
Welsh manager Mark Hughes refused to criticise Beckham following his revelation and said: "It surprises me that in the reality of a game and the hurly-burly of a game that you can think that clearly. Is it that easy to be that pre-meditated?"
"If it was done for the reasons being claimed, it is his decision. But at times suspensions do impact on you further down the line in a qualifying campaign, and we have been hurt by that in the past."
