Fans should not have booed youngsters, says Beckham

England's captain David Beckham criticised the supporters here for booing off the "young" England team which had drawn 1-1 in the second period of this game of two halves.

"It was disappointing because they were young lads playing their first game," Beckham said. "Perhaps the crowd were booing for the first half. I can understand their frustration. It's the same for the players. But the young lads who played the second half deserved a little bit more than that."

Beckham was ambivalent when asked if the England experiment of using two different teams had worked. "You never know," he said. "The young lads have had their chance and they will get plenty more. Losing any match hurts, especially at home. Losing to Australia, there's going to be a lot made of it. But we have to move on. It's important the fans get behind us now when we play our next game and I'm sure they will."

The England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, was anxious to look on the bright side, although he admitted that England had made basic errors. "We have to be positive," he said. "I think the boys did very well in the second half, you can see there were a lot of talents out there. At half-time I said to them, 'you have to sort it out'. They did that. Some of the youngsters are almost ready for bigger tasks."

Did he mean by that the man who became England's youngest player on the night, 17-year-old Wayne Rooney?

"He did very well," Eriksson said. "You can see that he's a very good player. His first touch is very good and every time he gets the ball you have the feeling that something can happen. Jermaine Jenas had a very good game, and so did many of the others. We almost controlled the second half."

The Swede, however, pursed his lips over a first-half performance that saw England concede two poor goals. "We lost a marker on the first one," he said. "And we didn't have the right position for the second one after losing the ball. But I don't think it would have happened if it had been a qualifying game."

Asked about the boos, the Swede responded: "I understand that if you are England you shouldn't lose to Australia at football. But I think we are a better team than them."