Owen backs Becks to play on
27 Mar 2008 - 09:17:23
Newcastle United striker Michael Owen believes there is no reason why David Beckham should not add to his 100 England caps.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder reached the landmark figure in Wednesday's 1-0 friendly international defeat to France before being substituted in the 63rd minute.
There had been a suggestion that Beckham would end his international career after winning his 100th cap, but Owen told the BBC: "I think David can keep playing for England, he's still got the quality.
"He's also still got the appetite to play for England and I think he showed enough to demonstrate that he can go on and win more caps.
"We're all pleased for him that he's got 100 caps and I'd like to congratulate him because he's been an outstanding player for us and deserves the honour.
"He's fit, hungry and has still got that fantastic right foot. Nothing much changes there.
"Everyone likes to impress the manager and I'm no different. The same applies to starting the games. I think any player would prefer to start rather than come on as sub and I've always been like that.
"We've got a spate of friendlies coming up, which is disappointing in a way because we'd rather be getting ready for Euro 2008.
"But this means there's plenty of time to experiment and hopefully I'll get the chance to impress the manager and try to make sure I'm in the starting line-up for some of those games."