11:07pm Wednesday 26th March 2008
By Jason Kayley
IT WAS the night that one DB' had been waiting for - but last night could have been the final time David Bentley plays second fiddle to David Beckham.
As widely tipped, David Beckham replaced the Rovers star on the right hand side of midfield to win his 100th cap.
And Bentley had to watch from the bench as his colleagues went a goal down, thanks to a Franck Ribery penalty following David James' foul on Nicolas Anelka after 32 minutes.
But the 23-year-old, who started in Fabio Capello's first game in charge against Switzerland last month, replaced the LA Galaxy man after 63 minutes - in what could be the end of the Beckham era.
Bentley had a few good moments but ultimately couldn't inspire his country as the French ran out comfortable winners.
And former Skipper Beckham was understandably a very proud man to clock up his century of caps.
He said: "I'm very honoured. Straight from when I started playing for England I never dreamed I'd get 100 caps, and hopefully beyond.
"I'm happy but like I said during the week I want to carry on. Of course things can change but I want to carry on playing for my country."
This was the midfielder's first competitive match of the year because Major League Soccer is still in the off-season, and Beckham was pleased with his showing after being omitted from the squad for Capello's first match.
The 32-year-old is now only eight caps short of World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore, who holds the record for most appearances by an outfield player.
Meanwhile, manager Capello said: "I'm actually quite happy because I have seen improvements. We played against a top-level team and I think we did well."
"The way we played, we didn't let the opposition play too much and especially, the way we played with personality."
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