One of David Beckham's former England team-mates still harbours a grudge for the 1998 World Cup incident
(Image credit: Getty Images)
One former England star "resents" David Beckham for getting sent off against Argentina at World Cup 98, suggesting the right-midfielder ruined the Three Lions' chances of progressing in the tournament.
In the 48th minute of the last-16 game against Argentina, Beckham kicked out at Diego Simeone, who had just fouled him on the halfway line. The referee immediately sent the Englishman off, putting Glenn Hoddle's side down to ten men.
With the score already 2-2 by that point, England managed to take the game to extra-time and then penalties without conceding, before ultimately succumbing on spot kicks.
Beckham received a red card after kicking Simeone (Image credit: Getty Images)
Michael Owen started the game as an 18-year-old, scoring a brilliant finish to announce himself on the world stage in the 11th minute. Despite that, he is clearly still not happy with Beckham for his actions that night.
“Firstly, I don’t believe David Beckham’s kick out at Diego Simeone should’ve been a red card, but that is irrelevant," Owen told William Hill’s Up Front with Simon Jordan podcast. "He made a mistake and that is where my resentment lies.
“For a lot of players you only get one shot at a World Cup, and he made a big mistake – he would admit that. You could say that it contributed to us being knocked out and that is a big thing.
“You can resent a lot of things if you use that word, and I do resent a lot of things. Paul Ince missed a penalty and I resent him choosing to shoot the ball one way instead of the other, in the same way I resent Beckham making the decision to kick out at Simeone."
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Owen "resents" Beckham for his actions (Image credit: Getty Images)
Owen added that he still thinks about what might have been had Beckham not kicked out against Simeone.
“I resent his actions for all manner of reasons," he said. "It was a mistake that only he made and it makes you think that if he hadn’t done it, we could have beaten Argentina.
"I’m absolutely convinced that we would’ve beaten them with 11 men because we were the better team. We had an unbelievable team so of course I think to myself what could have been.”
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
