This time around, as Euro 2004 looms, it is the England captain's mental state that is the source of most concern as he prepares to lead his country on another quest for glory on the international stage.

The frustrations of a trophy-less first season with Real Madrid and the strains generated by his reported affair with his former assistant Rebecca Loos have clearly frayed at the edges of Beckham's normally easygoing demeanour.

His season with Real ended with him being sent-off for verbally abusing a linesman and his usually friendly relations with the English media were strained to near breaking point by his -- ultimately unsuccessful -- attempt to boycott broadcasters and newspapers whose coverage of the Loos scandal had displeased him.

The on and off the field displays of petulance have inevitably invoked memories of the blackest day of Beckham's career, when a needless kick at Diego Simeone resulted in him being sent off against Argentina and contributed to England's early exit from the 1998 World Cup.

It is a suggestion the 29-year-old has been quick to deny.

"People have said that the red mist is back and I'm back to the days of that game against Argentina but I don't think that is fair. I feel I'm in control," he said.

The red card Beckham received against Argentina resulted in him being made a scapegoat for England's exit from France 98. But a season of being jeered mercilessly and having effigies of himself hung from replica gallows only served to strengthen his resolve.

"I would never want to go back there (to 1998) but it did make me a stronger person," he subsequently said.

Two years after the low-point of Saint Etienne, Beckham was named England captain by caretaker manager Peter Taylor and his redemption in the eyes of the nation was complete when, heart thumping uncontrollably, he converted the penalty that gave England a revenge victory over Argentina in Japan.

That goal apart, Beckham's contribution in Japan was severely restricted by his lack of full fitness.

That will not be the case in Portugal, where a player whose good looks and love of fashion have made him a global icon, once again finds himself with something to prove.

Apart from the doubts over his state of mind, there is also the question of how Beckham will cope with a return to the right flank after a season spent operating, with mixed results, in the centre of midfield for Real.

After a promising start to his time in Spain, Beckham's form dipped alarmingly in the second half of the season, a fact he tacitly acknowledged when speaking of "unfinished business" as his main reason for committing himself to at least one more season in the Spanish capital.

"Whatever rumours there were about me coming back to England, they weren't started by me," he insisted. "I've had to prove to people that I could play football and was not just there to sell shirts."

Not just perhaps but Beckham certainly does sell a lot of replica shirts, although there is a school of thought that, in that department, he has outlived his usefulness to Real and could still be sold this summer.

Beckham however appears determined not to move, announcing recently that his wife, the former Spice Girl Victoria, and sons Brooklyn and Romeo would be moving to Spain in the summer.

The impact of the personal turmoil that contributed to that decision on Beckham's performances will only become apparent once the action gets underway.

But Beckham has shown before that he is capable of blocking out everything else when he gets on to a football pitch.

"I'm at ease more on the pitch than off it," he once confessed and being reunited with his best friend in the game, Gary Neville, on the right side of a settled English team should provide him the kind of environment in which he can remind the world of exactly why he has become what he is.

Euro 2004 will present a stage to many players with greater all-round gifts than Beckham but few can match his ability as an awesomely precise striker of free kicks and corners. In a tournament as tight as this one promises to be it is the kind of skill that could serve England well.