2001 England life and death battle: Beckham s free kick to redemption

When we look at football history, there are always some moments that not only determine the outcome of a game, but also define a player's entire career. In 2001, England played against Greece at Old Trafford, and the free kick David Beckham scored in the last minute was such a classic moment.

Let's review the background at that time. That was the last game of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. The game entered injury time, and England was still behind 1-2. They only needed one point to advance directly. For Beckham personally, since the famous red card in the 1998 World Cup, he has been under tremendous public pressure and has almost become a public enemy of the whole UK. All the pressure was concentrated on this last free kick.

Recently, his then Manchester United teammate Teddy Sheringham revealed a very interesting on-field details. Sheringham said that in that game, Beckham had already lost five or six free kicks, either hitting the wall or flying into the stands. So at the last ball, he walked up to Beckham and said, "I'll do this."

As a result, Beckham answered him very directly: "Go away, Ted. You can't reach here at all." From this short conversation, we can see the mentality of the top players. At such a decisive moment, Beckham showed an absolute confidence.

Shelingham later admitted that Beckham's judgment was correct and that he was the one who should have paid the ball more. He said that although he could score some free kicks, he saw Beckham's training every day and knew that he was at a higher level. In the last minute of the game, if you want to bet a person can send the ball into the upper corner of the goal, that person must be Beckham.

And this goal eventually became a turning point in Beckham England's career. He himself said that it was this goal that made him feel that England fans finally "forgive" the mistake he made three years ago. This is a time of self-salvation. It was only after that that that he truly removed his psychological burden and later became the captain of England, regarded as one of the best players in English football history.