Becks equals record as England go down

Published: 12:07PM Thursday February 12, 2009 Source: ONE Sport / Reuters

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David Beckham equalled Bobby Moore's England record of 108 caps as England went down 2-0 to Spain in an international friendly in Seville on Thursday.

England coach Fabio Capello brought on the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder, who is on loan at AC Milan, with the home side 1-0 ahead at the break.

During his recent trip to New Zealand Beckham told ONE Sport that he was:

"Honoured and privileged to be on 107 caps. At one point I didn't think I would make 95, so to be up there with the likes of Bobby Moore and Sir Bobby Charlton is an honour.

"Playing for your country is one of the biggest honours you can ever be given in football."

Goals from David Villa and Fernando Llorente gave superior Spain the 2-0 win over Capello's England.

A careless pass by defender Phil Jagielka let the home side in to score the opener on 36 minutes. Xabi Alonso picked up the loose ball and fired it to Villa who jinked his way past several defenders and sent a low shot past David James.

The European champions dominated a toothless England and substitute Llorente doubled their lead when he outleapt the English defenders to nod past Robert Green with ten minutes remaining.

Beckham, who turns 34 in May, has been on good form during his loan spell in Italy and is due to remain with Milan until next month. He has said he wants to stay on but Galaxy have rejected a first offer from the Serie A club. 

He put in a typically energetic performance on Thursday but his evening was tainted when he was booked for protesting a decision and was roundly booed and whistled by the Spanish fans.

A superb crossfield pass from Beckham gave Shaun Wright-Phillips a goalscoring opportunity while a neat dribble and pass put Carlton Cole clean through on goal but the West Ham striker saw his shot cleared off the line. 

Beckham said the game was more important than his appearance record and the England players were disappointed they did not put in a better performance. 

"They were always going to bring pressure on us, they always keep the ball well and pass it around well," he said. 

"They got two good goals - the first one was a good finish, overall maybe they deserved it. We'll move on."

Both sides top their qualifying groups for the 2012 World Cup in South Africa with four wins out of four.

Spain's next qualifier is against Turkey on March 28 in Madrid and England play Ukraine at Wembley on April 1.

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