Becks man of match? It's like Obama getting Nobel Peace Prize, says Fabio

15 October 2009 14:25
Two goals from Peter Crouch and a Shaun Wright-Phillips strike ensured that Fabio Capello's 'Plan B' was easily good enough to see off Belarus at Wembley on Wednesday night. The England manager fielded six changes from the side beaten in Ukraine last Saturday and the evening afforded second-half substitute David Beckham the chance to earn his 115th cap to move within 10 of record holder Peter Shilton. Beckham was bizarrely named man of the match by ITV panellist Steve Bruce and Capello quipped: 'It was like Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize after eight months as president. He gets the man of the match after 30 minutes here. ' But when he played the last 20 minutes, 50 minutes, half-an-hour, from half-time, he's always played well and been focused. 'Sometimes some players when they're substitutes have problems playing normally. Beckham always plays well.' 'It was like Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize after eight months as president. He gets the man of the match after 30 minutes here' - Capello on Beckham Pleased enough with a winning finale, Capello admitted he had some harsh words for his players at half-time. 'Always, it's important to win,' he said. 'You lose one game. It was important for me to see something on the pitch and to learn more things about my players. 'I spoke with the players about why I was angry. I'm happy for the way we played in the second half, the substitutes, and also for the goals that we scored and the clean sheet we kept. That's important.' Did Beckham deserve to be England's man of the match? David Beckham was bizarrely named man of the match in England's 3-0 victory over Belarus that concluded their successful World Cup qualification campaign. The veteran midfielder made little impact after only coming on as a substitute in the 58th minute. Did he deserve the award? Or would you have picked another player? Beckham, who revealed a deal to take him back to AC Milan on loan is 95 per cent complete, was thankful for another chance to try to cement his place in Capello's World Cup plans. He said: 'Tonight was an important night. Getting over the loss, we needed to end on a high. 'We didn't play badly in the last game, went down to 10 men and played really well, didn't deserve to lose. We wanted to end the campaign well.' Peter Crouch was the player to make the most of the change in personnel, the Tottenham striker talking his goals tally to 18 in 35 appearances for his country by scoring the opener with just over three minutes played and England's third 15 minutes from time. Even so, Crouch was pessimistic about his chances of starting England's next game against Brazil in Qatar next month. He said: 'It was nice to score. Sometimes it's difficult to get involved in the game, but you're always going to have chances in this England side. I'm just pleased I put two away. I don't expect to start the next game. That's up to the manager. Whenever I come in I feel I do a job and don't let anyone down.' Capello was certainly not in the mood to give anything away about Crouch's chances either, in the short or long term. 'I know very well Peter Crouch,' said Capello. 'And I know the other players very well. He's one part of the squad. I know the numbers of Peter Crouch. He scores a lot of goals.'

Source: Daily_Mail