The Hindu : Sport / Football : Beckham moves to third place

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Beckham moves to third place

Wembley (England): David Beckham moved up to third on England’s all-time appearance list when he came on as a substitute against Kazakhstan.

The 33-year-old former captain won his 106th cap as a 79th-minute replacement for the impressive Theo Walcott, a player 14 years his junior.

The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was greeted with huge cheers from the Wembley crowd and showed he could still play a bit, setting up Wayne Rooney for the fourth of England’s goals in a 5-1 win that kept the team on top of its World Cup qualifying group.

Beckham is now tied with Bobby Charlton, England’s record scorer, in the appearance charts, and only trails Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton.

Moore played 108 times for England, while Shilton was in goal 125 times.

Although Beckham treated the match with his customary professionalism, he could have been forgiven for basking in the latest high point of an international career that only recently seemed to have stalled on 94 appearances.

Beckham was dropped by Capello’s predecessor, Steve McClaren, after stepping down as captain following the team’s elimination from the 2006 World Cup. He missed nine England matches and was also dropped at Real Madrid, where Capello was coach. — AP

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