David Beckham and Sir Bobby Charlton receive their UEFA Centurion awards (Getty)
During the half-time interval at the England-Belgium Euro 2012 warm-up game, five England legends were honoured for playing for their country over 100 times. These legends were Peter Shilton, 125 caps; David Beckham, 115 caps; Bobby Moore, 108 caps; Sir Bobby Charlton, 106 caps and Billy Wright 105 caps.
Three of the legends (Shilton, Charlton and Beckham) were there in person, also Stephanie Moore (wife of Bobby Moore) and a family member of Billy Wright were there to collect the awards, which was an England cap with the name and number of caps each player had embroidered onto the peak. It certainly was good to see these players get recognition for their services to the English national team. Between all five of them, a total of 559 matches were played and 71 goals scored. Two of the legends were FIFA World Cup winners in 1966.
David Beckham
The former Manchester United midfielder first appeared in the England squad on 1st September 1996, playing in a World Cup qualifier against Moldova in which England 3-0 and ended up qualifying for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. The England midfielder scored his first goal for England in the World Cup in France, against Columbia at the Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens.
The final score was 2-0 to England. Beckham scored a total of 17 goals for England in his career, which lasted from September 1996 until October 2009.
David Beckham England Captain (Getty)
Here is a chart (which I got from Wikipedia) showing the matches Beckham has scored for England in;
|
# |
Date |
Venue |
Opponent |
Score |
Result |
Competition |
| 1. | 26 June 1998 | Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens | Colombia | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup |
| 2. | 24 March 2001 | Anfield, Liverpool | Finland | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 3. | 25 May 2001 | Pride Park, Derby | Mexico | 3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly match |
| 4. | 6 June 2001 | Olympic Stadium, Athens | Greece | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 5. | 6 October 2001 | Old Trafford, Manchester | Greece | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 6. | 10 November 2001 | Old Trafford, Manchester | Sweden | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
| 7. | 7 June 2002 | Sapporo Dome, Sapporo | Argentina | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
| 8. | 12 October 2002 | Tehelné pole, Bratislava | Slovakia | 1–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 Qual. |
| 9. | 16 October 2002 | St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton | Macedonia | 1–1 | 2–2 | UEFA Euro 2004 Qual. |
| 10. | 29 March 2003 | Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz | Liechtenstein | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 Qual. |
| 11. | 2 April 2003 | Stadium of Light, Sunderland | Turkey | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 Qual. |
| 12. | 20 August 2003 | Portman Road, Ipswich | Croatia | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly match |
| 13. | 6 September 2003 | Gradski, Skopje | Macedonia | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 Qual. |
| 14. | 18 August 2004 | St James’ Park, Newcastle | Ukraine | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly match |
| 15. | 9 October 2004 | Old Trafford, Manchester | Wales | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 16. | 30 March 2005 | St James’ Park, Newcastle | Azerbaijan | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 17. | 25 June 2006 | Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart | Ecuador | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup |
The most memorable goal Beckham scored has got to be the injury time free kick against Greece at Old Trafford on 6th October 2001, which meant England qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Japan by topping the group, above of Germany, who England beat only a month earlier 5-1. Here is a video of the important goal David Beckham scored, taken from the FATV YouTube account;
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0GESlaVNdE]
Sir Bobby Charlton
The Manchester United top scorer played his first match for England on 16th April 1958 only two months and 13 days after the Munich Air Disaster, in which he saw friends and fellow players perish on the fateful afternoon. The team England played was the ‘auld enemy’ Scotland at Hampden Park. England romped home in a 4-0 victory, with Charlton scoring a debut goal. Charlton who scored a record 249 times for Manchester United, would fire the goals into the back of the net during his England career that lasted from April 1958 until June 1970. Charlton scored 49 times for England in a career which saw him become one of only 22 Englishmen to ever win the FIFA World Cup as a player.
Sir Bobby Charlton holding the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966 along with Alan Ball, Bobby Moore and George Cohen (Getty)
Here is a chart (which I got from Wikipedia) showing the matches Charlton has scored for England in;
|
Date |
Venue |
Opponent |
Result |
Competition |
Scored |
| 19 April 1958 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Scotland | 4–0 | British Home Championship | 1 (1) |
| 7 May 1958 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Portugal | 2–1 | Friendly match | 2 (3) |
| 4 October 1958 | Windsor Park, Belfast | Northern Ireland | 3–3 | British Home Championship | 2 (5) |
| 22 October 1958 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Soviet Union | 5–0 | Friendly match | 1 (6) |
| 11 April 1959 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Scotland | 1–0 | British Home Championship | 1 (7) |
| 6 May 1959 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Italy | 2–2 | Friendly match | 1 (8) |
| 28 May 1959 | Wrigley Field, Los Angeles | United States | 8–1 | Friendly match | 3 (11) |
| 28 October 1959 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Sweden | 2–3 | Friendly match | 1 (12) |
| 9 April 1960 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Scotland | 1–1 | British Home Championship | 1 (13) |
| 8 October 1960 | Windsor Park, Belfast | Northern Ireland | 5–2 | British Home Championship | 1 (14) |
| 15 October 1960 | Stade Municipal, Luxembourg-Ville | Luxembourg | 9–0 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | 3 (17) |
| 23 November 1960 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Wales | 5–1 | British Home Championship | 1 (18) |
| 10 May 1961 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Mexico | 8–0 | Friendly match | 3 (21) |
| 28 September 1961 | Highbury, London | Luxembourg | 4–1 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | 2 (23) |
| 22 November 1961 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Northern Ireland | 1–1 | British Home Championship | 1 (24) |
| 2 June 1962 | Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua | Argentina | 3–1 | 1962 FIFA World Cup | 1 (25) |
| 29 May 1963 | Tehelné Pole, Bratislava | Czechoslovakia | 4–2 | Friendly match | 1 (26) |
| 2 June 1963 | Zentralstadion, Leipzig | East Germany | 2–1 | Friendly match | 1 (27) |
| 5 June 1963 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel | Switzerland | 8–1 | Friendly match | 3 (30) |
| 12 October 1963 | Ninian Park, Cardiff | Wales | 4–0 | British Home Championship | 1 (31) |
| 17 May 1964 | Estádio Nacional, Lisbon | Portugal | 4–3 | Friendly match | 1 (32) |
| 27 May 1964 | Downing Stadium, New York City | United States | 10–0 | Friendly match | 1 (33) |
| 11 April 1965 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Scotland | 2–2 | British Home Championship | 1 (34) |
| 20 October 1965 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Austria | 2–3 | Friendly match | 1 (35) |
| 2 April 1966 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Scotland | 4–3 | British Home Championship | 1 (36) |
| 4 May 1966 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Yugoslavia | 2–0 | Friendly match | 1 (37) |
| 16 June 1966 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Mexico | 2–0 | 1966 FIFA World Cup | 1 (38) |
| 26 July 1966 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Portugal | 2–1 | 1966 FIFA World Cup | 2 (40) |
| 16 November 1966 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Wales | 5–1 | British Home Championship | 1 (41) |
| 21 October 1967 | Ninian Park, Cardiff | Wales | 2–1 | British Home Championship | 1 (42) |
| 22 November 1967 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Northern Ireland | 2–0 | British Home Championship | 1 (43) |
| 3 April 1968 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Spain | 1–0 | 1968 UEFA European Football Championship qualifier | 1 (44) |
| 22 May 1968 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Sweden | 3–1 | Friendly match | 1 (45) |
| 8 June 1968 | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | Soviet Union | 2–0 | 1968 UEFA European Football Championship | 1 (46) |
| 7 May 1969 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Wales | 2–1 | British Home Championship | 1 (47) |
| 21 April 1970 | Empire Stadium, Wembley | Northern Ireland | 3–1 | British Home Championship | 1 (48) |
| 20 May 1970 | Estadio El Campín, Bogotá | Colombia | 4–0 | Friendly match | 1 (49) |
The most memorable goal Charlton scored for England has to be from the second group game in the 1966 World Cup, against Mexico, Charlton lit the fuse of English expectations, firing home a stunner after collecting the ball from deep and running 30 yards with it before letting fly with a thunderbolt. Here is a video of that goal, taken from HacjienceYukona’s YouTube account;
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLXXL36EmJg]
By Paul Bienkowski
