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Beckham praised for 'best-yet' performance

29/09/2005

David Beckham has been praised by Real Madrid boss Wanderley Luxemburgo after the England captain single-handedly inspired the Spanish giants to a 2-1 Champions League victory over Olympiakos last night.

Returning to the wide right midfield position, Beckham showed he still possessed the exquisite talent which earned him recognition as one of the best footballers in the world as he bombarded the Greek side's defence with an avalanche of deadly crosses.

His first raking cross-field ball in the ninth minute found the head of team-mate Raul from 40 yards and the Real skipper ghosted in behind the Olympiakos defence to score his 50th goal in Europe.

The visitors equalised but Beckham looked a continual threat with his range of dangerous crosses and another pin-point ball with five minutes to go found Soldado who scored at the second attempt.

The Bernabeu responded by cheering Beckham's every touch and then gave the man-of-the-match a standing ovation as he left the field.

And the Brazilian Luxemburgo also took time to single out his star midfielder although he insisted that his stunning performance was little above the ordinary for the most globally recognised player in the game.

"Beckham has been playing well for a long time," he said. "This is not the first time he has played really well."

Olympiakos coach Trond Sollied also sung Beckham's praises and said the former Manchester United player proved a decisive factor in the game.

"Our tactic was very simple - get so close they couldn't get any service," he added. "We succeeded with Roberto Carlos, but we couldn't get close to Beckham."

Beckham's performance should serve as a timely reminder to England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson who is due to shortly name his squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers with Austria and Poland.

Shaun Wright-Phillips has been backed to fill the right hand side position for England but on the strength of last night's performance by Beckham, the surly Swede will surely consider playing the national team skipper in his tried and tested role on the right.

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