Beckham unperturbed by back injury

The Real Madrid midfielder was noticeably hampered by the problem which flared up towards the end of the first half, and was eventually substituted after 65 minutes.

However, Beckham stated after the game that he did not expect to be sidelined for any length of time with the injury.

"It just seized up on me at the end of the first half," he explained.

"I thought it would be better in the second half, after a massage at half time, but it just totally seized up on me.

"But it's not a problem and it should be fine."

Speaking on England's reverse, the skipper added: "If you don't defend well at this level then teams will punish you.

"We attacked well and so did they but it's better we get mistakes out of our system now rather than in Portugal.

"We are disappointed for the fans, the 60 or 70 thousand people who came to see us.

"Of course we want to win but that didn't quite happen for us today."