There was a standing ovation for David Beckham in a London hotel on Sunday evening and many of the participants included some of Goldenballs’s harshest critics. The former England captain had just delivered a speech that was warm and sincere.

If the delivery was not faultless, it was because Beckham was petrified. Strange how a man can be vain enough to parade in his smalls on giant billboards but become a bag of nerves speaking in front of four or five hundred diners.

The best story of the evening came in Bryan Robson’s tribute when he talked about playing with the renowned United youth team as he was coming back from injury at Old Trafford. When this second-string team won a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, the captain of England at the time went to grab the ball, only to be barged out of the way by a teenaged Beckham. The shot went into the top corner. Yes, the kid was something special.

A short film reminded us that the global Beckham brand was not built only on film-star looks and a showbiz spouse, but seven league titles, two FA Cups and a European Cup. His goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon was shown several times, in case there was disbelief that an English footballer could do that.

Perhaps the wine played its part, but the occasion left everyone with a warm glow. It even converted some of those who believe that Beckham should be consigned to England’s past. A straw poll of known Beckham sceptics yesterday found every one of them wishing that the former captain be given an encore at Wembley next month and the chance to make his 100th international appearance.

Sven-Göran Eriksson demanded as much in his address at the Football Writers’ Association dinner and his words were well-timed, coming just as Fabio Capello was ironing a shirt for his first day at the FA. The new England manager heads to the Arsenal training ground tomorrow on a tour of facilities where he will find Beckham striving to get fit to reach his century of caps. Will the Italian be swayed by his former charge at Real Madrid?

We are told that he wants to treat all friendly matches with utmost seriousness and to establish a winning mentality. Another priority is to banish the celebrity culture. Some believe that he must plan for the future immediately, even though he does not have a competitive fixture for at least seven months.

Capello could tick a few of those boxes by banishing Beckham, who can hardly be at the peak of fitness and whose long-term use to England is highly questionable, given his club career with Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. And the new man could also score points among those who insist that there is no room for indulgence in top-level sport, least of all around an underachieving England team.

But if wanting Beckham to win his 100th cap against Switzerland makes you a weak and sentimental old fool, there seemed to be an awful lot of us gathered in the Royal Lancaster Hotel on Sunday night.

T-shirts are no substitute for action in racism war

Racism rows are never going to be edifying, but the idea that the Australia cricket players should have brushed Harbhajan Singh’s abuse of Andrew Symonds under the carpet - or, as Tony Greig, the former England captain, said, dismissed it as “in the heat of the moment” – is almost as reprehensible as the original offence. And it is no more acceptable to argue that the Australians started it.

If all the antiracism campaigning in sport is to mean anything, every case must be prosecuted with vigour. Credit to the Australia players for reporting Harbhajan and for the authorities in having the bravery to make a difficult judgment when it was the word of one group of players against another. Let us hope that the International Cricket Council remains true to the evidence rather than swayed by protests in Bombay.

There was a similar case in English football last season when Emre Belözoglu, the Newcastle United midfield player, was accused by Everton players of making a racist remark. Shamefully, the Professional Footballers’ Association wanted it resolved over a private handshake and representatives of both clubs advised silence. It took Tim Howard and Joleon Lescott to insist that something be done. Fat lot of good it did them.

A case was brought by the FA, but the discrepancy between “f***ing n*****”, which is what Howard heard, and “f***ing negro”, Lescott’s version, led members of an independent commission to decide that the charge was not proven. Another file was submitted by Watford against Emre, but the FA deemed it too hot to handle.

As a result, several Watford players recently declined to take part in an antiracism promotion and those at Everton were also left fuming. “What’s the point in wearing a Kick It Out T-shirt?” Lescott said. He had a point.

The latest word on José Mourinho is that he is working to improve his Italian. Do not be surprised, either, if you see the unsettled Didier Drogba carrying a guidebook to Milan. A reunion of that pair would not do much for the good humour of Chelsea fans, who were once told that there were plans afoot to paint the world blue. It is going to be a tall order for Nicolas Anelka and Avram Grant.