England ready to fulfil dream, says Beckham

England captain David Beckham has urged his men to complete the final stage of their dream recovery by beating Greece on Saturday to qualify for the World Cup finals.

Victory at Old Trafford would put England through as the automatic qualifiers from group nine, barring a miracle scoreline by Germany against Finland.

England qualification would represent an extraordinary feat after their campaign started last October with a humiliating 1-0 defeat to Germany at Wembley and a 0-0 draw in Finland.

The arrival of Sven Goran Eriksson as manager has transformed England from rank outsiders to group leaders and favourites, particularly after last month's 5-1 win over nearest rivals Germany in Munich.

But Beckham made it clear on Thursday that the job still had to be finished.

"We have turned it round," he told reporters near the team hotel.

"But these big performances that we've put in over the last three or four games mean nothing if we don't win on Saturday.

"If we reach these World Cup finals after the start we've had, and after what people were saying and obviously the way we were playing, it's a massive achievement."

Bigger, he said, than qualifying for Euro 2000 after coming back to win the group after losing 1-0 at home to Italy.

He said: "We dreamt of doing it but we've made the dreams into reality. To come back and be top of the group at this point is amazing, to be honest.

"But it can only be amazing if we go through to the World Cup finals on Saturday. If we don't, we have to work hard again."

NATION LIFTED

The tournament aside, Beckham also felt that success on Saturday would help the country as a whole, plunged as it is into the worldwide gloom following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

"There are certain events that do happen and the whole nation has got to be lifted," Beckham said.

"This is a big time for us to lift the nation now, to get through to the World Cup finals."

The match will also have a special significance for the United midfielder, leading England at his home club ground before a capacity crowd.

"It's definitely a childhood dream," he admitted, but said: "I don't know whether I would have dreamt it would have happened this quickly -- to be England captain at 26 and to be leading this team out."

And he added later: "I've been a Manchester United supporter my whole life and it will definitely be a special time for me personally."

However, Beckham would not be drawn on the behaviour of Steven Gerrard, who has apologised to Eriksson after press reports indicated the Liverpool midfielder had been drinking in a bar in the early hours of Tuesday.

"It's been sorted out and forgotten about now," Beckham said. "Our focus is on the game on Saturday."