'I was there at Beckham's Argentina redemption - what happened next was surreal'

On the day before Argentina and England met in the group stages of World Cup 2002, we sat with then-England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson inside an eerily quiet Sapporo Dome.“It is strange but it is beautiful,” Eriksson said. “I think it is the future of football.”The Sapporo Dome was not the first football stadium with a roof but it was the first many of us had visited. And I’m guessing it was the first many of the England players had visited.Back then, to the English press, it was space-age stuff. As England prepare to face Argentina in Atlanta’s 75,000-seater, £1.5billion covered stadium, that Sapporo Dome seems quaint.‌In the £250million arena on June 7, 2002, less than 36,000 spectators saw David Beckham’s late first-half penalty give England victory over Argentina.It would be rewriting history to suggest there was some sort of febrile atmosphere inside the Sapporo Dome. There was not.But the build-up to the match had a familiar edge, that is for sure.Get the latest World Cup 2026 news in your inbox with our Make Football Great Again newsletter‌Heavily featured in the build-up to the game were David Beckham’s opportunity for revenge after his red card at the 1998 World Cup and, unsurprisingly, the Falklands War.Pablo Cavallero, Argentina’s goalkeeper, said before the game: “Maybe you should not mix things like football and the war but it is really hard not to do. It is the match that any Argentine wants to play, especially if you lost friends or family in 1982.”Argentina’s captain, Juan Sebastian Veron - earning his living at Manchester United - said: “This match is about more than the men on the pitch - it is also important in a historical context.”Argentina’s manager, Marcelo Bielsa - yes, him - tried to play down that particular narrative but the die had already been cast.‌The Beckham revenge storyline was not as vigorously pursued as you might imagine. As reporters, we were more concerned with Beckham’s fitness. He had been a doubt for the entire tournament after suffering a fractured metatarsal, but had started the opener against Sweden before being substituted midway through the second half.It turned out Beckham was able to play for the entirety of the Argentina match and executed the key moment, beating Cavallero from the spot, even though it was a pretty unconvincing effort.Beckham’s celebration - tugging at the front of his shirt with both hands - was probably the most memorable moment of a decent but unspectacular game.‌Michael Owen had induced the penalty out of Mauricio Pochettino but Pierluigi Collina’s decision was the correct one.Apart from the penalty award, Collina had a fairly uneventful game, booking only three players - England’s Ashley Cole and Emile Heskey, and Gabriel Batistuta, of Argentina.Considering the rivalry was supposed to be so bitter, it was hardly brutal stuff.England had to withstand some late pressure but were good value for their win. I remember Nicky Butt, in particular, having a very good game, which is maybe why Pele, in unlikely fashion, later singled him out as one of the tournament’s best players.‌The thing about that meeting with Argentina - a thousand miles away from England’s base on a place called Awaji Island - was that its historical significance was more than matched by its significance in the context of a Group of Death. In their first game, England had only drawn with Sweden, who then went on to beat Nigeria.Argentina had beaten Nigeria in their opener. It was pretty much a must-win for Eriksson’s men.England finished Group F with a goalless draw against Nigeria, while Sweden and Argentina drew 1-1, meaning Bielsa’s men went home.In retrospect, that made the win over Argentina even sweeter for the English.‌As for one abiding memory from that occasion 24 years ago, it came back at the plush Sheraton Sapporo Hotel, where the Argentinian squad found themselves billeted with the English media.Their post-match meal was more subdued than ours and a few hours later, when both parties were leaving, one of our number - the late John Curtis, a brilliant and much-missed reporter for the Press Association - got on the wrong coach.It was not until the Argentinian team bus was about to leave that Batistuta and Veron realised there was an unwitting imposter on board.It was a surreal end to a surreal couple of days.‌Content cannot be displayed without consent