Beckham was treated the same as everyone else, says Pearce

STUART Pearce has maintained he was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t, when it came to picking David Beckham for Great Britain’s Olympic squad.

The omission of Beckham from Pearce’s 18-man party for the London Games has caused a storm down south, with the head coach having to defend his selection repeatedly after confirming the names of those who would go for gold.

Pearce insisted former England captain Beckham was left out for purely football reasons, declaring it would have been wrong simply to reward the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder for his role in helping secure the Olympics for Britain.

Pearce, who chose Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards as his three over-aged players for the under-23 tournament, said: “I realised that whatever three over-age players I picked would cause, I wouldn’t say controversy, but people would be polarised probably of certain opinions.

“People would say, ‘Why is he in? Why isn’t he in?’ I have to make sure in my own mind that I have picked the best possible squad.”