A real cool Becks

DAVID BECKHAM believes he has proved that he can no longer be goaded by provocation after he came through another severe test of his temperament against Turkey to help England seal an automatic place in the Euro 2004 finals.

The Real Madrid star now certainly seems to be singled out for special treatment regularly by opponents, especially away from home.

He had a running battle with Macedonia skipper Artim Sakiri in Skopje last month when he was issued with a death threat.

Then on Saturday night Aston Villa defender Alpay did everything possible to wind up Beckham, running up to him in a menacing manner after he missed a penalty and then clipping him around the head and insulting his mother in a half-time tunnel incident.

In the second-half Beckham was also knocked over by a clear elbow from Okan but again there was no attempt to look for reprisals.

The Beckham of 2003 vintage is not the youngster who kicked out at Diego Simeone in that infamous World Cup clash with Argentina in St Etienne five years ago and who became public enemy number one on the terraces in England.

The red mist may still occasionally flash in front of his eyes but the red card being branded in front of his face is now an unlikely option despite the attention he receives from first whistle to last.

Beckham must have known what was coming when Alpay hinted in the build-up to the game that he could expect a few kicks in his direction.

But he and his team-mates kept their cool and composure and long before the end it seemed as if the Turks had accepted that a play-off spot was all they could look forward to.

Beckham said: "The promise I had made about not getting a red card did go through my head at times but I am 28 now. If I am going to be targeted, there is no way you can change that. But if I can't cope with that now, then I never will do.

"They gave me quite a bit of provocation. There were things going on in the game but it was not just happening to me."

Beckham also revealed that referee Pierluigi Collina urged him and Alpay to calm down their respective teams after a half-time talk in his dressing room following the tunnel spat.

He said: "He said you just need to calm things down. He said: 'I'm not going to let silly things go on in this game because it is such a big match.' He said 'Go into your changing rooms and calm the players down'."

Beckham was unimpressed by the reaction of Alpay after he had missed his first-ever penalty for England and then his antics at the interval.

The former Manchester United star said: "When I put the penalty over the bar, Alpay and Bulent came up to me and were shouting in my face. The ref calmed down that situation very well.

"But at half-time as I was walking off the pitch, Alpay ran past, clipped me around the back of the head and said something about my mum.

"It was not nice to hear. I confronted him about it and then all the players came into the tunnel and their players started over-reacting.

"But the most important thing is that we obtained the result and I think it was a performance the nation could be proud of. It proved to people we are proud to play for our country every one of us," said Beckham.