21 Years Elapsed, Owen Still Annoyed at Beckham Due to a Red Card in 1998

London - David Beckham was severely criticized for the action that led to a red card at the 1998 World Cup. After 21 years passed, Michael Owen was annoyed not playing at Beckham.

Owen will soon release his autobiography titled 'Reboot - My Life, My Time'. In his book, Owen one of them tells about a big event that happened at the 1998 World Cup.

At that time England faced off against Argentina in the last 16. The high-tension match was then colored by a drama that will be remembered as one of the historic moments in the World Cup journey.

In the match, Beckham was sent off by Kim Nielsen for kicking Diego Simeone. Beckham did that while he was falling on the field.

Despite accusations that Simeone over-reacted to the slow kick, it was still Beckham who was in prison. He was considered guilty, especially the British then lost and were eliminated.

Despite being forced to play with 10 men, England managed to force the match to continue on penalties and then lost 3-4. The defeat still seems to have an imprint on Owen to this day.

At that time, Owen was considered a rising star in England. At an age that is still very easy, he performed nicely with Liverpool in the English League. In the match with Argentina scored one goal with his individual action and contributed a goal in the penalty shootout.

"Before I had to say that the personal relationship between me and David was fine. He was a talented player. But after the World Cup in France (1998), there were those who thought our path was different. At that time I was the darling of the English football public, whereas he became an antagonist, "Owen said, as quoted by Mirror.

Owen continued, had Beckham not been expelled, things might have been different. Moreover, England was able to hold Argentina throughout the second half until extra time round. If there is still Beckham, maybe he will be one of the penalty takers.

"Can we beat Argentina if we play with 11 people? We never knew, but we played well with 10 people at that time. Will our journey continues to beat the Netherlands, then Brazil, and so on? We will also never know. I just can say that, when I wrote this book when I realized how lucky a player was to be able to compete in the World Cup, it was a lie to say what David did when it didn't make the whole team disappointed, "explained Owen.

"Does Beckham deserve the treatment and insults that came to him after that? Of course not. Which human would want to see his photo burnt? But David makes us disappointed, and I still harbor anger about it to this day," he concluded.

Reference: https://sport.detik.com/sepakbola/bola-dunia/d-4693657/21-tahun-berlalu-owen-masih-kesal-pada-beckham-akibat-kartu-merah-pd-1998