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The captain of the England national team, David Beckham, said that in Saturday's World Cup quarter-final match against Portugal, the team is ready for a tough physical battle and that there should be no excuses for the heat.
In the match against the Netherlands, there were 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards shown, while the English team had struggled in hot conditions in Germany in the past. However, in the match against Ecuador, even though Beckham appeared physically exhausted, on Thursday he seemed confident while speaking to the press.
"We are English, and we typically enjoy physical battles, a fast pace, and intense duels for the ball, so if the match goes that way, we should enjoy it. We have always said that there can be no excuses and we cannot blame the heat for poor performance. Usually, we have had issues with physical fitness in tournaments, and it has been difficult to play in the heat in the later stages of this tournament. However, we need to overcome this, and now there can be no more excuses. We are confident that we will overcome all obstacles," Beckham said.
The England national team defender dismissed concerns about the referee from Argentina, Horacio Elizondo, trying to avoid the controversies and harsh challenges seen in the match between the Netherlands and Portugal. So far, Elizondo has shown 16 yellow cards and 1 red card in three World Cup matches, and in 2000 during a match between "Man Utd" and "Necaxa" in the Club World Cup, the referee had sent Beckham off.
"In the match between England and Portugal, various things can always happen, it will always be tense, and as players, we need to follow the discipline. Sometimes it can be difficult because there is provocation and everything happens, but you have to maintain discipline," said the popular player, whose career had a dark moment in the 1998 World Cup quarter-final match against Argentina due to a red card.
Beckham also admitted that he was very pleased to respond to critics with a winning goal in the match against Ecuador: "For me, that was one of the most special goals. When you receive some criticism, it's always nice to score a goal that allows your country to reach the quarter-finals. That goal gave me a lot of satisfaction, just like becoming the first Englishman to score goals in three consecutive World Cups."
