Beckham admits he 'wanted' to be booked

David Beckham has admitted that he "deliberately" sought the booking which ruled him out of tomorrow's England game against Azerbaijan. He was given a yellow card towards the end of the match at Old Trafford on Saturday following a wild collision with the Wales defender Ben Thatcher.

David Beckham has admitted that he "deliberately" sought the booking which ruled him out of tomorrow's England game against Azerbaijan. He was given a yellow card towards the end of the match at Old Trafford on Saturday following a wild collision with the Wales defender Ben Thatcher.

Beckham was reported last night to have said that he realised immediately after a earlier clash with Thatcher that he had cracked a rib. From previous experience he knew he would be out of action for at least four weeks.

The Real Madrid player had already earned a yellow card earlier in the World Cup qualifying competition. A further yellow would trigger an automatic suspension from the next game.

"I am sure some people think that I have not got the brains to be that clever," Beckham was reported to have said. "But I do have the brains. I could feel the injury. So I fouled Thatcher. It was deliberate... I knew I would be out for a few weeks, so I thought, let's get the yellow card suspension out the way."

The second collision between Beckham and the Manchester City player came two minutes after the first.

Beckham was said to be irritated that the booking gained almost as much press coverage on Sunday morning as did his goal in the 76th minute.