Beckham's Return To Lisbon
Monday, July 26, 2004

England captain David Beckham enjoyed a happier return to Lisbon's Estadio da Luz as Real Madrid drew 2-2 with Benfica as part of the Portuguese giants' centenary celebrations.

Barely a month and a half after he skied his penalty into the crowd, as England crashed out of Euro 2004 at the stadium, Beckham showed glimpses of his best form before making way at half-time as new Real Madrid coach Jose Antonio Camacho made a host of changes.

Although they slipped a goal down after only a minute when Benfica midfielder Zlatko Zahovic fired home from the edge of the area, the Spanish giants quickly picked themselves up.

Beckham was playing in central midfield, as he had done last season, but it was a perfectly-flighted ball from the right wing which helped Ronaldo level the scores barely two minutes later.

Beckham could have put Madrid ahead on the five-minute mark, but his thundering shot from outside of the area hit the crossbar and bounced out. Raul did head home the rebound but the referee ruled it out for offside.

Beckham was looking tidy and active while the arrival of Argentina international defender Walter Samuel seems already to have tightened things up in defence.

Two more crosses from Beckham had Benfica in trouble, but neither was capitalised on as the teams failed to add to the scoreline before the break.

Camacho, who replaced Carlos Queiroz in the summer, made five changes at the break, with Beckham among the players to make way.

The move seemed to pay dividends with one of the substitutes, Fernando Morientes, capping his return to the Madrid fold with what looked like being the winning goal after 77 minutes.

But Benfica were not to be denied and former Brazil international Geovanni ensured honours would finish even when he popped up to head home a corner in injury-time.

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