David Beckham's mum put ex-England boss on her "hit list" over World Cup fallout
David Beckham's mother Sandra has revealed she put Glenn Hoddle on a personal "hit list" for his treatment of the England star at the 1998 World Cup.
Hoddle had given Beckham his senior England debut in 1996 in a qualification game for the tournament, and used the Manchester United star in all eight qualifiers for France 98. He left the star out of the opening group game against Tunisia, though, and only brought him off the bench midway through the second.
Beckham forced his way back into the team with his impact off the bench in that defeat against Romania and in a start as England beat Colombia, earning another outing against Argentina in the round of 16. However, it was there where the releationship between player and manager soured further following a red card for the midfielder, and comments made by Sandra in the new Netflix documentary 'Beckham' point to how keenly the fallout was felt.
"Glenn Hoddle said his head wasn’t in the right place [before Tunisia], didn’t he?" Sandra said. "I just put him on my hit list - people that upset me."
After winning his way back into the manager's good graces with his goal against Colombia, a red card against Argentina prompted an uncompromising response from Hoddle. "It’s cost us, it’s cost us dearly," Hoddle told media moments after England's penalty shoot-out defeat, leaving Sandra even more distraught.
Cas star Jacob Miller says Trinity's Lewis Murphy has "nothing to lose" in NRL
"When I watched Glenn Hoddle’s interview I thought ‘No, what have you done?’," she added. "He made it that it was David’s fault, and we’d been used to a manager, Alex Ferguson, who never spoke about his team. They just blamed him after that."
What have you taken away from the David Beckham documentary? Let us know in the comments section
David Beckham was sent off as England lost to Argentina on penalties at the 1998 World Cup (Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)There was a sense the relationship between Hoddle and Beckham meant more because Beckham idolised the former Spurs star when growing up. As a child, he had been gone to the opening of a shop wearing his England shirt just because Hoddle was meant to be there, only for him not to show up.
Based on Beckham's reaction to his first call-up, for a qualifier against Moldova in 1996, the no-show was water under the bridge by the time he began his own playing career. “To get a phone call from the England manager would have always been great, but to get it from Glenn Hoddle, that was a special moment," he said in the documentary.
"As a young kid I loved Hoddle. He was kind of flash, he was good looking, he had the hair, he always wore his shorts really short - he had good legs actually. But he could play a ball no one else could play. Everything he did, I wanted to be."
Hoddle addressed the Tunisia omission when writing for The Guardian in 2021. The 65-year-old, who was dismissed as England manager in 1999 for matters unrelated to football, reiterated the point about Beckham's focus but felt the midfielder's absence against Tunisia got the desired response.
"I was honest with David when I sat down with him. 'I don’t think you’re focused,' I said. 'I’m going to leave you out of this game. Your mind is somewhere else. I don’t know what it is, but you’ve got to get your mind right.'," Hoddle wrote.
"I looked him in the eye and made sure to give him some encouragement. 'You will play at this World Cup,' I added. 'You’re too good to leave out but I need you right at it.'
"It jolted David. He wasn’t happy but his response was excellent. He was on it when we trained the next day. He hit a new level and showed me that it wouldn’t be a risk to play him in midfield with Incey [Paul Ince] further down the line."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
