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Updated Thursday June 15, 2000
Players vow: We're with Beckham
By Nigel Clarke
England's senior players yesterday rallied round David Beckham and called on the country to get behind him.
Midfielder Beckham, forced to endure vile abuse from fans directed at him, wife Victoria and baby Brooklyn on Monday, has been warned by the Football Association not to repeat the the one-fingered gesture that has provoked another storm of controversy around him.
But there was sympathy for the troubled Manchester United star from team-mates. Chelsea midfielder Dennis Wise said: 'He's great how he deals with it all. I feel for him. If someone said to me some of the things they shouted at him, I'd give them a thump.'
Beckham was abused by fans at half-time during England's 3-2 defeat by Portugal in their opening match of the European Championship, and again at the final whistle after exchanging shirts with opposition skipper Luis Figo.
Wise added: 'David was very angry, but he's also a strong person, in as much as the only thing that matters to him is his family. He just somehow shrugs it all off.
'He also has the advantage of being a wonderful player. Some of us got it in the tunnel the other night but it was just a bunch of stupid idiots responsible.
'Now is the time for the country to get behind him. It appears to be an anti-Manchester United thing, but it's not nice and it's definitely not right for people to slaughter him like they do.
David does nothing to deserve it.
'All players get abuse, but what he receives is far worse than anybody else. It can drive you mad but he has to get on with his life. The senior players are all behind him, and we hope we can help him if he needs us.'
Arsenal defender Martin Keown added: 'You can only guess what goes through his mind. He's living in a goldfish bowl.
'He's a great player and it's a shame the fans react to him this way. It was only a limited number around the tunnel area, but David must be careful how he reacts.
'We have to get behind him. All our players need the encouragement of the fans, and if anything goes wrong it's not gone wrong deliberately.
'I don't know if it would ever get to a point where he would no longer want to play for England, he's able to box it all off. But he just has to be careful with his reactions.
'Footballers are almost like film stars and pop stars. On Monday his wife was subjected to abuse and he'd have been aware of that.
'It's just not on. You expect it from away fans or the other team, not your own fans. Anybody sitting around, the good supporters for instance, should try to put it right.
'What David did was just a flash-point reaction, and he would have treated it as such.'
The FA claims its security advisers may know the culprits - surely now is the time for them to be named and shamed.
Not only Beckham's English team-mates are lining up behind him in support.
Liverpool's Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who is expected to start against England in Charleroi on Saturday, said: 'He is a great player, world class, and he gives 100 per cent every time for England.
'He is under great pressure and, unfortunately, these things happen when the fans go too far.
'The same thing happened to our own Stefan Effenberg at U.S.A. 94. All over the world the best players take a lot of stick. The main thing about Beckham should be that he performs well. If he plays like he did on Monday, there should not be a problem.
'David is the main provider for the England team, for the two front men and the other midfielders. He got two assists in the first game against Portugal.
'If we keep him out of the game on Saturday, we have done most of the job.'
There are also fears of a knock-on effect from the kind of abuse Beckham is regularly subjected to.
Scotland midfielder Craig Burley, who plays in the Premiership with Derby County, said: 'It is important for the future of the game that kids attend matches.
'But I know people who already refuse to bring their children to matches because of this kind of loutish behaviour, which can even happen in family areas of grounds.'
After identifying Beckham as a major threat to Germany on Saturday, Hamann also offered comforting words to England captain Alan Shearer, his former Newcastle colleague, and drew parallels with his own country's Lothar Matthaus - another experienced player under fire.
Hamann said: 'The situation with Lothar is the same as with Shearer.
'A lot of people maybe want Heskey and Owen up front but Kevin
Keegan has said that, if Shearer is fit, he will play.
'He is always a threat when he plays. He has experience and a physical presence, it is never easy to play against him.'
While Hamann was willing to sing the praises of two Englishmen, he delivered a succinct put-down to the man he replaced at Anfield.
Paul Ince has made it clear that his contest with Hamann will be something special but the German, when told this, said simply: 'For me, it is nothing special.'