Reds' Beckham gets over the booing blues
Posted: Thursday December 17, 1998 04:00 PM
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Beckham: "I suppose booing is a way of getting back at me. I think when people boo you it's a sign of respect really." Ross Kinnaird/Allsport |
LONDON (AP) -- David Beckham endured months of jeers from opposing fans after his World Cup expulsion made him public enemy No. 1 in English soccer.
Now he believes that's all behind him and he can concentrate on making Manchester United a winning team again. Right now, all United can do is draw.
Beckham was sent off in the game against Argentina, which England eventually lost on penalties after surviving for 70 minutes with 10 men. Many fans blamed Beckham for England's elimination and, when the season started, he was booed and jeered wherever he played.
"A lot of people have said the treatment I got after the World Cup was unfair and I think it was, but I can't do anything about that," the Manchester United midfielder said.
"A lot of people really blew it out of proportion."
But Beckham said it was not all down to the World Cup debacle, when he was sent off for petulantly kicking Argentina's Diego Simeone after he had been fouled.
"The reason fans abuse me is because they are jealous of me most of the time," said the fiancé of Spice Girl Victoria [Posh] Adams.
"They see me doing well on the pitch, playing for Manchester United, playing for England, enjoying my life, playing football with a smile on my face.
"I suppose booing is a way of getting back at me. I think when people boo you it's a sign of respect really."
Beckham is unlikely to face any booing on Saturday when he turns out for Manchester United against Middlesbrough before 55,000 mainly United fans at Old Trafford.
That's unless the Reds fail to win for a fifth time in a row since the departure of assistant manager Brian Kidd.
Kidd left to take over as manager of Blackburn Rovers two weeks ago and United, with Alex Ferguson in sole charge, has tied with Aston Villa, Tottenham and Chelsea in the league and Bayern Munich in the Champions Cup.
If United had turned any of those Premier League draws into victories, it would have been sitting top of the standings instead of two points behind Villa in second place.
A victory over a fifth-place Middlesbrough team managed by former United star Bryan Robson will put Ferguson's team top only because Villa isn't in action until Monday, when it goes to sliding Charlton.
If United slips up on Saturday, Chelsea can move to the top by beating Tottenham at home. Gianluca Vialli's team would be level with Villa on points and go top on goal difference.
Chelsea underlined its title potential by scoring a 1-1 tie at United on Wednesday. Vialli's team fell behind at Old Trafford but produced a strong second half fightback and fully deserved its equalizer through Gianfranco Zola seven minutes from the end.
Zola's form has returned after a barren 12-month spell in which he lost his place on Italy's World Cup team. He puts it down to becoming more of a team player than just a striker and goalmaker.
"I'm more devoted to the Chelsea cause," said the former Napoli and Parma forward, who scored his ninth goal of the season on Wednesday.
"I'm more important in this team and I think I have never scored as many goals in the first few games as I did this season."
Another big game at the weekend is sixth-place Arsenal against fourth-place Leeds on Sunday. The Gunners, who had eight regular first-teamers out through injury and suspension recently, are getting some of their star players back to full fitness.
Leeds, fielding six players under age 21, are going well under new manager David O'Leary and Monday's 2-0 victory over struggling Coventry was its fourth win in five games.
The Sky Blues are one of five teams falling away from the rest at the foot of the standings.
A five-point gap separates 15th place Newcastle from Charlton, which is 16th. Coventry is 17th and hopes for a home victory over mid-standings Derby on Saturday to stay away from the relegation zone.
Last place Southampton, only 10 points from 17 games, hosts mid-standings Wimbledon while next-to-last Nottingham Forest, which has only one point more, hosts Blackburn, which is one place above.
Other games Saturday are Liverpool-Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle-Leicester and West Ham-Everton.
Division One leader Sunderland, which already has a 10-point lead atop the standings, has a tough game at fourth-place Birmingham, which last week won 7-1 at Oxford. Second place Ipswich goes to Sheffield United on Sunday.
Three points clear in the Scottish Premier League, Glasgow Rangers goes to fifth place Hearts Saturday while Kilmarnock hosts Dundee United on Sunday.
Defending champion Celtic, which has seven points to make up on Rangers and lies third, has a home game against last place Dunfermline Saturday.
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