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Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson recollects when Queen Elizabeth II snubbed David Beckham to pick Michael Owen as her favorite player from the England national team.
Sadly, the long-serving British monarch passed away last week at the age of 96. The country is currently in a state of mourning with a bunch of Premier League games getting postponed due to the same reason.
Former Three Lions manager Sven-Goran Eriksson talked about the time when the Queen surprisingly picked Michael Owen as her favorite footballer at the time. She picked the former Liverpool and Manchester United forward ahead of David Beckham, who was the national team's captain at that point in time.
According to Eriksson, the main reason why the Queen picked Michael Owen was mainly down to his looks. Speaking on the Sacked in the Morning podcast (via the Mirror), Eriksson was quoted as saying the following:
"I was invited to lunch with the Queen with about another 10 people. At a certain point, I asked her if she liked football. She said not really."
The Swedish tactician added:
"I asked her for her favourite player or team. I thought she would've said Beckham. 'Michael Owen is my favourite player,' she said. I asked why and she said, 'He looks so clean'. That was the answer I got and we didn't go on with that discussion."
Eriksson was the England manager from 2001 to 2006. The Swedish coach guided the Three Lions to two FIFA World Cups in 2002 and 2006 and also at Euro 2004. Sadly, the national team failed to win any international honors despite possessing one of the best squads the country has seen.
England had numerous superstar players during Eriksson's tenure. The team possessed the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard amongst others.
David Beckham is still England's third highest appearance maker
David Beckham had an excellent international career with England. The former skipper earned 115 caps for the Three Lions, which currently puts him third on the all-time list.
The former Manchester United star only trails Peter Shilton and Wayne Rooney on the appearances leaderboard. The winger also managed to score 17 goals for his national team.
At club level, David Beckham represented some of Europe's elite clubs. He played for the likes of Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. He retired from the game back in 2013 and has since become the co-owner of MLS outfit Inter Miami.
