One Stray Kick.(Turning Point)(1998 World Cup, England-Argentina match)

Byline: David Beckham

How a moment of weakness helped cost my team a game--but made me a much stronger person.

ON FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2002, I STOOD ON THE PITCH IN Japan waiting to take a penalty kick for England against Argentina. It was our second game of the World Cup finals and the toughest match of the group. A win would help ensure that we made it to the next round. It would also go a long way to erasing four years' worth of bad memories, partic-

ularly where Argentina was concerned.

I was lucky to be there at all--less than two months before, I'd broken a bone in my foot. But I'd worked incredibly hard to recover and now here I was, England's captain, about to take a shot that could win us the game. As I tried to focus, the Argentine captain, Diego Simeone, came walking toward me and held his hand out to shake. In an instant, my mind returned to a night four years earlier, when the same player helped get me kicked out of the previous World Cup in France.

Although I didn't have the best of starts at the 1998 World Cup and came on only as a substitute against Romania, I'd scored my first-ever goal for England in the following match, so I was feeling confident when we faced Argentina. It was a huge game. Our rivalry is one of the oldest in football, and once I found out I'd be starting I couldn't wait for the game to begin.

The first 45 minutes flew by, with goals at either end. Though the score was tied at 2-2, we felt we were good enough to win.