Alan Shearer has admitted that he does not blame former Manchester United star David Beckham for his infamous sending off for England at the 1998 World Cup.
England crashed out of the 1998 World Cup in the round of 16 at the hands of Argentina, following a 4-3 defeat on penalties at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Gabriel Batistuta had fired Argentina into the lead from the spot-kick inside 10 minutes before Shearer cancelled out the opener from a penalty four minutes later.
Former England striker Michael Owen put Glenn Hoddle’s men 2-1 up six minutes after Shearer’s equaliser before Javier Zanetti scored for Argentina before half-time.
However, Beckham would later become public enemy No 1 for some England fans after he was sent off only minutes into the second half of the last-16 tie in France.
Beckham lashed out at ex-Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone and was dismissed from the field, with England reduced to 10 men for the remainder of the match.
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Shearer on Beckham and Hoddle
Beckham’s life both on and off the pitch was the subject of a four-part documentary series on Netflix, which earned rave reviews for its expose on the United legend.
Hoddle pulled no punches towards Beckham over his actions at the 1998 World Cup and even pinned the blame on him for England’s exit from the competition.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Shearer insisted that he doesn’t blame Beckham for England’s exit and added that “we all made mistakes.”
But the Premier League legend, who was captain of England at the time of the World Cup, felt conflicted with Beckham’s position on Hoddle over the sending off.
“He really heavily criticised Glenn Hoddle for his response after he got sent off,” Shearer said.
“I loved Glenn Hoddle; he gave me the England captaincy and was a fantastic coach.
“I understand why David is critical of him. He didn’t agree with what was said after he got sent off in ‘98. But I loved Glenn Hoddle, I thought he was brilliant.
“I get the criticism because I know he was younger and perhaps not as mature as he could’ve been. That’s understandable.
“But he did kick out and get sent off. No, it wasn’t his fault [that] we didn’t go through. It wasn’t his fault [Paul] Ince or [David] Batty missed their penalties, not at all.
“But we would have had a much better chance with him on the pitch. It is what it is. I don’t blame him at all, we all made mistakes on the pitch that we regret.
“He’ll look back and you can hear the regret in his voice. It happened. I don’t blame him.
“With his criticism of Glenn, I always liked Glenn. He gave me one of the biggest and best things that can ever happen to you.”
Victoria Beckham on Hoddle’s criticism
Beckham was met with a string of abuse after England’s World Cup defeat to Argentina, including burning effigies displayed against him in protests.
Speaking in the Beckham documentary, Victoria Beckham admitted that she was disappointed ex-England boss Hoddle had singled out her husband with criticism.
“Glenn Hoddle didn’t come out and try and protect David,” she said.
“And how old was David, 23? You’re a kid at 23. And Glenn Hoddle was a man.
“Well, I wouldn’t even call him a man actually… he was an older person.”
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