London, Sep 02: David Beckham has admitted that he may never have a better chance of winning the World Cup after England's defeat to Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea. "I'd expected so much of myself and England" in Asia, said Beckham in his autobiography 'my side', extracts of which continued to be published in the Sun Newspaper today.

"We'd prepared right. Everything had felt right -- and we'd missed maybe the best chance any of us would ever have," added Beckham, who captained England against Brazil. "I thought we missed out that afternoon on a real chance of winning the World Cup -- and so did all the other England players. With all due respect to Brazil, it wasn't as if we'd lost the game so much as handed it over -- and that was a horrible feeling," added the Real Madrid star, who continues to captain his country.

It was Brazil in the quarter-finals: win that game and we'll win the World Cup," beckham insisted, adding that the South Americans' equaliser just before half-time blew England's chances of lifting the trophy. Brazil eventually ran out 2-1 winners and went on to beat Germany in the final.

Bureau Report