Beckham award 'like Obama winning Nobel prize'

Published on Thursday 15 October 2009 01:08

FABIO Capello compared his surprise at David Beckham's man of the match award for a cameo substitute performance against Belarus with US President Barack Obama winning the Nobel peace prize.

Beckham lifted England's tempo and hit a post when he came off the bench for the last half-hour of the 3-0 victory.

But Capello admitted he had laughed when he heard of the award saying: "I was a bit surprised. It was like Obama winning the Nobel prize after ten months as President. Beckham was on the field for just half an hour."

Capello, however, went on to praise the manner in which Beckham always makes an impact following a victory which made it nine wins out of ten for England in a convincing World Cup qualifying campaign.

Capello said: "Whether Beckham plays five minutes, 20 minutes or half an hour he always plays very well. Sometimes substitutes have a problem to play normally. David always plays well."

It was a clear indication that Beckham is still firmly in Capello's plans for South Africa, despite him failing even to make the bench for Saturday's defeat against Ukraine.

With Beckham admitting that his second loan spell with AC Milan is "95 per cent done" it was one of the few positives to come out of a match whose result was largely meaningless.

Another was the form of Tottenham striker Peter Crouch, who seized the chance to impress Capello with two goals.

Capello, however, was not being drawn on whether Crouch, who has now scored 18 goals in 35 England appearances, had furthered his case for a place in South Africa. He said: "I know Crouch well. He is one part of the squad and I know he has scored a lot of goals."

Capello also confessed that he was angry with his players in the first half and his remonstrations were clearly picked up by the television cameras.