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	<title>Reuters Soccer Blog &#187; Beckham</title>
	<link>http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer</link>
	<description>World Soccer views and news</description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:42:59 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Vlog on the pitch - why do English players slip taking penalties?</title>
		<link>http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/05/22/vlog-on-the-pitch-why-do-english-players-slip-taking-penalties/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/05/22/vlog-on-the-pitch-why-do-english-players-slip-taking-penalties/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 May 2008 13:20:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Meadows</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters Soccer Blog]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Andriy Shevchenko]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Beckham]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Champions League final]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Chelsea]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[John Terry]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Manchester United]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Vlog on the pitch]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[




David Beckham slipped and missed a key penalty for England against Portugal at Euro 2004 and now John Terry&#8217;s loss of footing has handed the Champions League to Manchester United.
Is it nerves or a lack of technique? Vlog on the pitch regulars Owen Wyatt and Jon Bramley are joined by Pedro Redig to discuss Wednesday&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
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<p><a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/insport/april08/disastrouspenalties.htm">David Beckham slipped and missed </a>a key penalty for England against Portugal at Euro 2004 and now John Terry&#8217;s loss of footing has handed the Champions League to Manchester United.</p>
<p>Is it nerves or a lack of technique? Vlog on the pitch regulars Owen Wyatt and Jon Bramley are joined by Pedro Redig to discuss Wednesday&#8217;s final, with some fan reactions also included.</p>
<p>Jon thinks <a href="http://bluechampions.com/2008/05/21/heartbreak-at-moscow-proud-of-the-blues/">Chelsea deserved to win </a>and Pedro wonders if Andriy Shevchenko should have played. Let us know your views.</p>
<p>Submit your comments in the usual way below or if you are feeling adventurous, load a video response to youtube or wherever tagged &#8220;vlog on the pitch&#8221; and if we like it, we&#8217;ll load it up here.</p>
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		<title>Don&#8217;t tell anyone, but this is only Beckham&#8217;s 85th cap</title>
		<link>http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/03/26/dont-tell-anyone-but-this-is-only-beckhams-85th-cap/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/03/26/dont-tell-anyone-but-this-is-only-beckhams-85th-cap/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:04:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Collett</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters Soccer Blog]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[100 caps]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Beckham]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[FA]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/03/26/dont-tell-anyone-but-this-is-only-beckhams-85th-cap/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Paris in the early spring - perfect for a few days&#8217; break, and as long as you are not drowning in credit crunch debt, it is still the most wonderful city to go shopping for the latest fashions.
&#8220;You&#8217;d like a cap to go with that Armani suit, monsieur? Certainly, I have just the thing. These caps [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/files/2008/03/beckham1.jpg" title="Beckham smiles at a news conference"><img align="middle" width="400" src="http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/files/2008/03/beckham1.jpg" alt="Beckham smiles at a news conference" height="259" class="imageframe" /></a></p>
<p>Paris in the early spring - perfect for a few days&#8217; break, and as long as you are not drowning in credit crunch debt, it is still the most wonderful city to go shopping for the latest fashions.</p>
<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d like a cap to go with that Armani suit, monsieur? Certainly, I have just the thing. These caps have not gone out of fashion since 1872 &#8230; suits you perfectly.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/03/20/its-sad-if-beckham-century-is-all-we-have-to-get-excited-about/">David Beckham </a>does not have to go shopping for his latest England cap, he will be awarded it in the time honoured fashion of a special delivery from the headquarters of the <a href="http://www.thefa.com/default.aspx">Football Association</a>.</p>
<p>I think it&#8217;s rather fantastic that in this age of the iPod, Xbox and Blackberry, England players still get a cap for playing for their country, just as they have done since <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_v_England_(1872)">the very first international against Scotland in 1872</a>.</p>
<p>The FA tells me the same company that made the caps then still makes them today &#8212; but here&#8217;s something not too many people know.</p>
<p>David Beckham&#8217;s appearance against France means he will have played for England 100 times, making him only the fifth English player to do that, but he will be awarded just his 85th cap.</p>
<p>Players are awarded one cap for every match they play &#8212; unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given just ONE cap to cover all the matches they play in that competition &#8212; with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself.</p>
<p>Beckham appeared in 20 of England&#8217;s 21 matches at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2000 and 2004 European championships. One cap was awarded for each of those five tournaments &#8212; which actually leaves him 15 short of 100 actual caps. Odd, but true.</p>
<p>Still, he is convinced he can make a valuable contribution for England until the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa as long as England qualify and if he does that he could also be in view of Peter Shilton&#8217;s record of 125 appearances.</p>
<p>Now how many caps did HE actually get&#8230;</p>
<p><em>Mike Collett, Reuters Football Correspondent, Paris</em></p>
<p>PHOTO: Beckham attends a news conference at the team hotel in Watford, March 24, 2008. REUTERS/ <em>Eddie Keogh</em></p>
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		<title>It&#8217;s sad if Beckham century is all we have to get excited about</title>
		<link>http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/03/20/its-sad-if-beckham-century-is-all-we-have-to-get-excited-about/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/03/20/its-sad-if-beckham-century-is-all-we-have-to-get-excited-about/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:51:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Fylan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters Soccer Blog]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Beckham]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Capello]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[century]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/03/20/its-sad-if-beckham-century-is-all-we-have-to-get-excited-about/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s just as well Fabio Capello decided to recall David Beckham to his squad for the friendly against France next week because otherwise there&#8217;d be very little else for England fans to get excited about.
Assuming Beckham survives the cut on Saturday, fans and the media can amuse themselves by speculating whether Beckham will win his 100th [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/files/2008/03/beckham.jpg" title="A Beckham fan holds a sign"><img align="right" width="218" src="http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/files/2008/03/beckham.jpg" alt="A Beckham fan holds a sign" height="314" class="imageframe" /></a>It&#8217;s just as well <a href="http://football.uk.reuters.com/uk/news/L20810710.php">Fabio Capello decided to recall David Beckham to his squad </a>for the friendly against France next week because otherwise there&#8217;d be very little else for England fans to get excited about.</p>
<p>Assuming Beckham survives the cut on Saturday, fans and the media can amuse themselves by speculating whether Beckham will win his 100th cap as a proud member of the starting line-up, perhaps even as captain, or in a late cameo role that could mark his farewell.</p>
<p>At least that will get it all over with. Whether Beckham <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/01/31/tough-nut-capello-makes-the-right-call-in-overlooking-beckham/">deserves to bring up his century or not</a> &#8212; and please let us know what you think about it in the comments &#8212; we&#8217;ve seen enough of him over the years to be pretty sure he&#8217;s not going to be the man to inspire England to <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html">World Cup glory in 2010</a>.</p>
<p>Looking ahead to South Africa is obviously all England can do after <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2007/11/22/should-mcclaren-pay-the-price-for-england-failure/">inexplicably failing to reach Euro 2008</a>. So with an eye on the future, Capello has also recalled 19-year-old Arsenal forward <a href="http://www.arsenal.com/player.asp?thisNav=first+team&amp;plid=61019&amp;clid=4421&amp;cpid=703">Theo Walcott</a>, Middlesbrough defender <a href="http://www.4thegame.com/club/middlesbrough-fc/player-profile/27587/davidwheater.html">David Wheater </a>and Portsmouth striker <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jermain_Defoe">Jermain Defoe</a>, while picking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Agbonlahor">Gabriel Agbonlahor </a>again after he was forced to pull out against Switzerland because of injury.</p>
<p>If Wheater turns out to be real international material then great, but England have plenty of decent centre-backs. Where England have consistently failed is in finding creative midfielders who do not give the ball away when the team is under pressure, and forwards with the technique, pace and nerve to score regularly against the best.</p>
<p>I suppose Capello did what he could by bringing in Walcott, Defoe and Agbonlahor. But if that&#8217;s as exciting as it gets in terms of players for the future, I wonder if he might have done more good by dropping players who have been short of their best of late, as a wake-up call if nothing else.</p>
<p>An England squad without, say, Michael Owen, Peter Crouch or Wayne Rooney &#8230; that would have given us plenty to talk about.</p>
<p>PHOTO: A Los Angeles Galaxy fan sits with a sign during a exhibition match between the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas March 15, 2008. REUTERS/<em>Jessica Rinaldi</em></p>
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