Beckham 'not fazed' by Brazil

David Beckham insists England will not be overawed when they take on Brazil in Friday’s mouth-watering World Cup quarter-final clash in Shizuoka.

Beckham and several of his teammates watched the Brazilians earn a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Belgium in a second phase encounter in Kobe yesterday.

The England skipper is relishing the opportunity of doing battle with the likes of Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos.

But he is adamant that England will not be intimidated by the four-times champions after the experience of doing battle against several of their players in the Champions League.

Beckham said: ‘‘I think the peoples' choice of our opponents would have been Brazil with whom England have had several great battles down the years.

‘‘The last time we played them in the World Cup was in 1970 in Mexico and the memory which sticks in my mind is of Bobby Moore changing shirts with Pele - two great people and players.

‘‘It will be nice to play Brazil as you always want to put yourself up against the best players and the best teams. Playing against them on Friday will be a great game.

‘‘When you first see these players playing in the World Cup finals or on television, then you are in awe of them.

‘‘But it has helped that players at Manchester United - and players in our squad at other teams - have faced some of their players in Europe. It does help a lot when you then have to come up against them in the World Cup.’’

Beckham will come in direct combat with the left wing-back Roberto Carlos who, like himself, is a free-kick specialist.

He said: ‘‘I have always said he is one of the best left-backs and best players in the world. When he does play, I seem to defend more.

‘‘That is because he pushes forward so much, and he has the pace to do that. But the European experience has helped me as I know a little bit more than I might otherwise do about him.’’

Beckham admitted that he has already been playing in a slightly deeper role during the current tournament - a combination of pacing himself after his foot injury and covering for the over-lapping of full-back Danny Mills.

He said: ‘‘I’ve felt in games that I’ve been playing a bit deeper. In the first games back I’ve had to make sure that I’ve paced myself. Usually I run for 90 minutes and do not worry about it.

‘‘Danny Mills also has the ability to run forward and is very quick. If he gets into those forward positions, it’s obviously up to me to cover for him.’’