Source: Daily_Mail
Sunderland boss Bruce considers ITV future after Becks backlash
Steve Bruce has defended his controversial decision to select David Beckham as England's man of the match for a 32-minute performance as a substitute against Belarus at Wembley.
The Sunderland manager is considering quitting as an ITV pundit, but says that is not a direct consequence of his decision to award the champagne to his former Manchester United team-mate.
Even England manager Fabio Capello said the award was like 'Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize after eight months as president'.
But Bruce defended his decision, saying: 'I knew it might cause a bit of controversy, but it's been incredible. I've never known such a carry on.
'Yes, I was a bit surprised Barack Obama won the Noble Peace Prize considering he is sending hundreds of troops to Afghanistan to go to war. But did David Beckham deserve man of the match? In my opinion, yes.
'Let's be fair - for 50 minutes it was dull, boring and uninteresting and when he came on the whole stadium rose in unison to him and I thought, "Blooming heck, wow, fantastic. Now Dave, what you got?" For me, for 35 minutes, he lit up Wembley with his attitude and his presence, and I suppose that is why Mr Capello picks him - to do something like that for him, otherwise he would not pick him. Maybe he can't do it for 90 minutes, but he had that impact and that's the way I saw it and called it.'
Sportsmail's Jeff Powell called Bruce's choice a 'grotesque honour' but Bruce shrugged off the criticism.
He added: 'He lit up a dull, dire game and did what he had to do, and some of the stuff I have read since.
'I saw Mr Powell's article calling it grotesque, but I looked over the other page and the ratings gave nine for Crouch and eight for Beckham. And yet he is caning me for an insult to English football.'
