Beckham showed mental strength - Eriksson

Sven-Goran Eriksson led the accolades for David Beckham after the England captain this time overcame the underhand tactics of Diego Simeone to guide his team to the brink of the World Cup knockout stages.

Beckham declared that he had finally ‘‘laid the ghost to rest’’ of his infamous 1998 red card against Argentina after scoring the winner against the South American side yesterday from the penalty spot.

The midfielder may have been lured into retaliating four years ago, but he kept his nerve in Sapporo even though Simeone attempted to put him off at the vital moment.

Beckham described his goal as the ‘‘sweetest’’ of his career so far, eclipsing even the 5-1 win in Munich and the free-kick equaliser against Greece.

Eriksson added: ‘‘David was very happy. You could see that afterwards. Of course he’s not 100% match-fit yet. He has no problem with his foot but he needs more games.

‘‘However, to take a penalty at 0-0, he has once again shown he is a good captain and mentally extremely strong.’’

England’s memorable victory, secured by a mature display of passion and poise from a young team coming of age, ensured that a draw in the final group game against Nigeria will now be enough to go through.

Indeed, if Sweden also manage to avoid defeat against Argentina next Wednesday, it will be the South American pre-tournament favourites who are knocked out.

England can only concentrate on securing their own second round spot against Denmark, Senegal or France, with the one sour note being a calf injury to Owen Hargreaves which was today being scanned.

However, Beckham can rest assured that he has proved beyond doubt just how far he has come as a player and as a person in the past four years.

After persuading Michael Owen to allow him to take the 43rd-minute penalty, won by the Liverpool striker, Simeone walked over and attempted to shake the England skipper’s hand.

Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt moved in to shepherd Simeone away, while Beckham ensured that his concentration never wavered even though keeper Pablo Cavallero also attempted to put him off.

The England captain powered the ball into the centre of the goal before embarking on a wild-eyed celebration just like Stuart Pearce at Euro ’96 when his own demons were similarly exorcised.

‘‘I was trying to blank Diego Simeone out as there were a few antics going on, which we knew there would be,’’ observed Beckham calmly afterwards.

‘‘He came up to me and I think he was trying to shake my hand. Butty and Scholesy came in and that’s the last I saw of him before taking the penalty.

‘‘The keeper was also telling me where he wanted me to put it - so I did the opposite! I was just concentrating so much on what I had to.’’

Unlike the Argentinians four years ago in St Etienne, Beckham made sure that his side did not rub in victory and made a point of going over to Simeone at the final whistle.

‘‘I shook his hand afterwards. I had to make sure I did that. A lot of things have been said, but we’re sportsmen and we won’t react in the wrong way to this game as we’re professionals.’’

Beckham’s display of guts was the defining moment, but Eriksson was also indebted to towering displays by Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, while Trevor Sinclair - an early substitute for Hargreaves - was a revelation on the left.

The defence were commanding, Teddy Sheringham threatened as another substitute after Emile Heskey struggled and Owen tore Argentina apart with his pace.

It was not as if they had not been warned in St Etienne, but after initially striking the inside of the far post, Owen used his wiles to engineer a clumsy challenge by Mauricio Ponchettino which sent him plunging to the ground.

After Beckham scored, England spurned a whole host of chances to make the game safe, with Sheringham, Owen and Sinclair all coming close.

However, Argentina came up against the impenetrable barrier of Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell,

allied to David Seaman’s reflexes, while Ashley Cole and Danny Mills snapped at every heel that passed their way.

With Butt having excelled in his first game for more than five weeks, while Beckham lasted the full 90 minutes, Eriksson believes his side can only improve.

‘‘If we can stay in the tournament then we can be better and better,’’ he vowed.

‘‘Some of the players are still not 100% match-fit but for every game that they play, they will improve.

‘‘I was pretty proud after Germany and after Greece but I’m very proud now after this big victory as well. After the game, I just said ‘thank you’ to all the players.’’