Beckham defends Owen after Alberto attack

England's David Beckham celebrates after scoring to make it 2-0 against Azerbaijan. Beckham has called for Michael Owen to be shown "more respect" after the striker was on the receiving end of a bitter verbal attack by Azerbaijan boss Carlos Alberto.

England captain David Beckham has called for Michael Owen to be shown "more respect" after the striker was on the receiving end of a bitter verbal attack by Azerbiajan boss Carlos Alberto.

The 1970 Brazil World Cup-winning skipper, whose current team were beaten 2-0 by England in a World Cup qualifier here at St James' Park on Wednesday, afterwards branded Owen a "midget" and said the forward ought to clean Beckham's boots with his tongue.

However, Beckham said Thursday in defence of his Real Madrid team-mate: "He's one of the best strikers in the world and he needs more respect than that.

"I am sure Carlos Alberto would love to have him in his side. He plays for Real Madrid and he's England's leading scorer and that says it all."

Alberto said he'd been reacting to a newspaper article where Owen, following Azerbaijan's 8-0 thrashing by Poland last time out, said England would also score eight and that he himself would net five.

As it turned out, England's goals came from Steven Gerrard and fellow midfielder Beckham while Owen missed several chances.

And the striker insisted that while Alberto could slam him for his performance he was wrong to react to comments he would never even think of making.

"If he checks my pre-match quotes he will realise that I never said anything about scoring five goals -- I would never be so disrespectful.

"He would, though, be perfectly within his rights to criticise my performance -- I've certainly had better games in an England shirt.

"I will learn from the experience and continue to improve as a player and person because of it."