The transformation of David Beckham from bete noire to national hero was confirmed in Athens when the Manchester United superstar led his country to victory from the front. It is a metamorphosis of quite remarkable dimension when you consider that Beckham has had to mature in the full glare of the public spotlight.

It is too simple to attribute Beckham's improved stature to the strip of material he wears on his arm and which signifies that he is the captain of his country. But he swears it has certainly helped. The petulant adolescent has mellowed into the controlled leader - and with each passing game now he has added greater weight to his country's footballing cause.

His third goal in four games confirmed England's superiority against Greece but it was his overall contribution, both in defence and attack, and his willingness to shoulder responsibility that were the hallmarks of his quality. 'I think the arm band has certainly helped,' said Beckham in the afterglow of victory. 'Hopefully, I will carry on as captain and carry on scoring. I do believe the change in me is a little bit down to being captain.'

He accepts, however, there are other factors, like the greater freedom he can assume knowing that Liverpool's emerging maestro Steven Gerrard is inside him and willing to act as his aide de camp. The way manager Sven Goran Eriksson has structured his side has enabled Beckham to have greater licence to move about the pitch and find the optimum areas of penetration.

Beckham added: 'When you have players like Gerrard and Scholes who can move the ball around as they do and do it as well as they do, then it has to be a help to us all.' Nobody, of course, has helped Beckham more than his manager at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson, whose insistence that the player sort out his life's priorities last year helped him re-focus on his game at a time when there were many distractions.

It was his dedication to training and playing which suggested to caretaker boss Peter Taylor that Beckham might thrive on the responsibility of captaincy, a decision endorsed by Eriksson in his five matches in charge. Some insight into the example Beckham sets in training was given in Ferguson's fascinating autobiography. He wrote: 'David Beckham is Britain's finest striker of a football not because of God-given talent but because he practices with a relentless application that the vast majority of less gifted players wouldn't contemplate. 'Practice may not make you perfect but it will definitely make you better and any player working with me on the training ground will hear me preach the virtues of repetition - repeatedly.'

Greater maturity has come with responsibility. The Greeks set out in Athens to 'soften up' the England captain, as he confirmed. 'One of the Greek players went right through me in the -first couple of minutes and I knew then that they were out to wind me up,' he said. 'The manager had told us -what they were going to do to us and he stressed the importance of maintaining our discipline. We knew what we were going to face. We knew what might happen.

'We knew it was going to be hostile and that their fans would throw things at us. I was hit by a bottle but I think the free-kick that I managed to score was the perfect reply.' Ironically, when the goalkeeper didn't react to his stunning free-kick, Beckham wondered for a split second whether it was indirect. He was relieved, therefore, when he saw the referee point to the centre spot.

The England captain is well aware that too much premature euphoria can be damaging and the acid test for the side is still to come. Yet he insisted: 'The ball is rolling again for us. If we can carry on playing like that and winning like that who knows what might be possible? 'It puts us in a great position for the Germany game. Three games ago people were saying they didn't even think we would be in the World Cup. Now we are right back in it with everything to play for and the confidence will be high in September.'

If England are to win in Munich, it is imperative that Beckham is at his best. Nobody should doubt his resolve and it is perhaps best summed up by Ferguson in another passage from his book. 'Nobody should ever underestimate David Beckham. At times I have disagreed with decisions he has taken off the field but he has a stubbornness that can't be broken and he will make up his own mind, whatever Alex Ferguson may think,' he wrote.

'I do like to have control of my players as they grow up but it is impossible not to admire his resolve. It has served me well on many occasions. When the chips are down on the football field, you can bet your life that David Beckham won't be found wanting.' Let us hope that sentiment rings true on September 1.