Gerrard eyes Beckham’s England record

Associated Press

England captain Steven Gerrard is aiming to break David Beckham's international appearance record.

London – England captain Steven Gerrard is aiming to break David Beckham's international appearance record and believes winning the World Cup in Brazil next year could yet be possible for Roy Hodgson's men.

Gerrard, honoured by a Football Writers' Association tribute dinner on Sunday, won his 100th cap against Sweden in November while England are currently second in World Cup qualifying Group H, two points behind Montenegro ahead of the March double header which sees trips to makeweights San Marino and then the leaders in Podgorica.

Were England to qualify for Brazil 2014 and Gerrard remain free of injuries, the midfielder would close in on Beckham's tally of 115 caps – the most won by an England outfield player.

“My personal ambitions are to get as many caps as I can – I have got David Beckham's record in my sights, so I am going to try to beat that because he is a special player,” Gerrard said.

England haven't won a major trophy since lifting the World Cup on home soil in 1966 and Gerrard added: “I don't want to raise expectations, I am sure it will probably go through the roof if and when we get there, so I don't really want to talk about the World Cup until we actually get there, we still have some important games to play, but I am confident we can achieve it (qualification).

“As I always say going into a major tournament, you need to get that bit of luck and when the ball drops your way, I think you can achieve the impossible – I have done it before with Liverpool, and we have seen Chelsea do it last year (in the Champions League).

“It is not necessarily all the time that the best teams win these competitions, so we can go into there with hope and belief.

“We have got some big players coming back from injury, like Jack Wilshere, who is going to play a big part.

“If you look at his game and his personality, he is another top player coming into the side and there are a batch of young players coming through and they can grow and hopefully peak before the World Cup.” – Sapa-AFP