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Becks not missed as England rout Greece

England produced a scintillating first half display in new coach Steve McLaren's first match scoring four goals in the process and passing passes through the normally dependable Greek defence with easy.

Compared to the World Cup this was a far much better performance and the team played as a team which is very important for a team with so many stars like England. All in all it was a good start for McLaren and his team and the only problem will be to sustain such a performance going forward.

So much has been said about the omission of David Beckham from the squad against Greece but I think to qualify for the 2008 Euro championships England still need Becks. I think the reason why he was left out was more to do with giving John Terry time to settle in the captain's job without Beckham being around. Beckham has been an influential captain for England and his presence would always be felt.

I also don't think his performance at the World Cup had anything to do with it otherwise Frank Lampard wouldn't have been in the squad as well.

England will need everybody including Beckham because England's Euro 2008 qualifying group is not as easy some people may suggest. Russia under the guidance of Guus Hiddink are going to be very tough to beat and also Croatia has a very good qualifying record but the reality is that one of these three teams is going to miss out. Only the two teams in each group are going to qualify and so without the cushion of play-offs this time around all teams are going to treat every game like a final.

Although not trying to read too much into friendlies Croatia beat the world champions Italy 2 nil and this morning and that just shows they are a quality team.

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