SAPPORO (Japan), June 8: England captain David Beckham said Argentina’s Diego Simeone, his nemesis in the 1998 World Cup, had tried to distract him when he was preparing to take the match-winning penalty in Friday’s game.

“Before I took the penalty, I took a few deep breaths. I needed to - at one point, I had nearly stopped breathing. I needed some breaths badly then.”

“I don’t know what Diego (Simeone) was trying to do or to say. I didn’t look at him. He was literally trying to shake my hand. I didn’t want any eye contact because I was concentrating on what I had to do.

“I was trying to blank him out to be honest, because there were a few antics going on — which we knew there would be anyway.”

On Friday, when the halftime whistle was blown, Simeone appeared to congratulate Beckham and the two players shook hands after the game.

“Afterwards, I went to shake his (Simeone’s) hand,” Beckham said.—Reuters