Manchester United v AC Milan: David Beckham excited to play his former club

Bystaff and agencies 551PM GMT 09 March 2010

Man of the impulse David Beckham is mobbed by fans at Manchester Airport Photo AP

"I"ll regularly be a Manchester United fan but this is maybe the initial time in my hold up that I wish them to lose," the midfielder pronounced forward of Wednesday"s Champions League clash, that will see Beckham"s AC Milan try to overturn a 3-2 first-leg necessity to explain a quarter-final slot.

Beckham is far from sure to begin after an groundless arrangement in executive midfield at the San Siro that saw the 34 year-old replaced mid-way by the second half.

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But the former England captain, who is on loan from MLS side LA Galaxy, is rarely expected to fool around a little purpose in the diversion and can design a comfortable accepting from the Old Trafford crowd.

Beckham outlayed his infirm years with Manchester United"s girl group and played to one side Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes when they won the FA Youth Cup in 1992.

That important side went on to yield the homegrown core of the patrol whose mastery of English football reached the rise in 1999 when United won a league, crater and Champions League treble.

"I"m not nervous," Beckham insisted in an talk with Milan"s in-house radio channel. "I"m happy since for the initial time after 7 years I will lapse to Manchester and go on the pitch. I"ll encounter up with most friends and all the people who upheld me for most years.

"If I play, I won"t be frightened. I"ll be excited. I played in that track for most years and I know what it equates to to be a Manchester United player. I know what it equates to for opponents to fool around there.

"Playing at Old Trafford is regularly difficult. It"s formidable to win, generally 2-0. We know we"ll have to go for it. We are wakeful of the actuality that it will be a really formidable match, but nothing"s impossible."

Beckham"s fast recognition with Manchester United fans was underlined when dozens of them incited out to hail him on his attainment at Manchester airfield on Tuesday, along with the unavoidable scrum of photographers and reporters.

His marginal grant in the initial leg stirred his old boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, to subject the tactical settlement of his Milanese counterpart, Leonardo. On the eve of the second leg, the Scot reiterated his perspective that Beckham is improved deployed far-reaching on the right.

"I think David"s strength has regularly been his crossing, and set pieces of course," Ferguson said. "That does not change, it"s been his strength all his career.

"Will he fool around tomorrow? You discuss it me. I am anticipating it really tough to collect their group at the moment. There are lot of threats in their group of march but we are well wakeful of David"s."

Beckham and Ferguson"s attribute famously became stretched in the run-up to the player"s departure, with one of the manager"s sauce room rants withdrawal the midfielder wanting stitches for a wound inflicted, only on top of his eye, by a drifting boot.

Beckham did not last prolonged at Old Trafford after that, Ferguson carrying sleepy of the luminary playground that had come to approximate a player who scored 85 goals in 394 matches for him, winning 6 Premier League titles and the 1999 Champions League in the process.

The severity of that time right away appears to have dissolute and Ferguson has not long ago permitted his former player"s explain to be piece of England"s World Cup patrol in South Africa after this year, by that time he will have upheld his 35th birthday.

Beckham, for his part, has regularly concurred Ferguson"s executive purpose in his growth as both player and person.

"He stable his players, but he done me assimilate when I was creation a mistake," he recalled.