Monday brings with it a chance for the country’s big-name columnists to get their teeth stuck into events in Cape Town on Friday. But while the World Cup draw grabbed the attentions of millions worldwide, it appears that one man in particular bewitched the English media. No prizes for guessing that it is David Beckham.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Martin Samuel extols the virtues of the LA Galaxy midfielder who has reinvigorated England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. In ‘David Beckham must rule England’s World Cup 2018 bid’, Samuel urges the FA to give the former Manchester United midfielder a prominent role.
“Forget Prince William. Forget Lord PleasedMan. There is only one person who should be leading England’s World Cup bid from here: David Beckham. He does not have to explore the logistics of hosting the tournament, he does not have to sit on committees or take meetings. He does not even have to be there, most of the time. He just has to be the figurehead, the public face of England 2018, so that when people think of the World Cup coming to this country, they think of Beckham, not grasping careerist politicians, or over-promoted men in suits
“Beckham was magnificent in South Africa. He put in the hours, worked the room like a pro. He changed outfits three times on Friday, so he always looked sharp. He even turned up with a haircut like a Piccadilly postcard punk and pulled it off. Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago has to take a cold shower at the mention of his name, Milan loves him, so too Madrid, not to mention his fans in the Far East. Even his move to America was a penalty shoot-out away from glory.
“Whether Beckham deserves to be in South Africa as a player next summer is an entirely different matter, but as an ambassador for English football he has no equal. That the 2018 bid team were squabbling over who paid his air fare shows how clueless they are. Beckham gives English football star quality, a wow factor that it has not previously possessed. Single-handedly in Cape Town, he transformed the World Cup bid from a running joke to a campaign that is now reinvigorated in the eyes of its rivals and the public.
“And he did it just by turning up. In a matter of days, the bid lost Sir Dave Richards and gained a genuine superstar. No bad swap.”
The Independent’s Sam Wallace has sounded a note of caution though, pointing out that while Beckham is a fine ambassador, it does not mean he should be guaranteed a place in Fabio Capello’s squad for the 2010 finals.
“No matter what Beckham does for the 2018 World Cup bid there is one thing he is not owed unconditionally and that is a place in England’s 2010 World Cup squad. Beckham said himself that “nothing is guaranteed” and “I don’t take anything for granted” when it comes to the World Cup squad. He might not take it for granted but over those heady days in Cape Town you could see Beckham reasserting that benign grip over a grateful FA that he once enjoyed under Sven Goran Eriksson as captain and de facto team ruler.
“It would be desperately inconvenient to England’s 2018 committee if Beckham, the iconic face of their bid, was to be absent in South Africa next summer. It would also make things more than a little awkward when they come to rely on him for the crucial lobbying right up to the decision by Fifa on 2 December next year.
“Fabio Capello does not appear the type to bow to any kind of pressure, explicit or not, to pick a player. But then the Beckham effect can do strange things to a man. In Cape Town, Capello was upstaged more than once by Beckham, when the two of them were brought out together for the cameras. I have seen footage of the England manager’s wife Laura posing with Beckham for a photograph – with Capello himself taking the picture. Beckham will be 35 come May and there are still unanswered questions about whether he is worth including in a squad in which every place must be earned. A choice of 23 players may seem like a lot but when a manager gets the balance minutely wrong it can come back to haunt him in the tournament, as Eriksson found when he picked Theo Walcott in 2006 and left himself short of experienced strikers.”
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