Beckham resigned the captaincy after the quarter-final exit to Portugal.

When Steve McClaren succeeded Sven-Goran Eriksson as coach, Beckham reports the new man in charge telephoned him to say he would be one of the "casualties" of the old regime - leaving the then Real Madrid star on the verge of tears.

Beckham, speaking on TV for tonight's programme New Beginnings about his move to play for Los Angeles Galaxy, said: "I was sat on a plane next to Jonathan Woodgate when (McClaren) phoned me.

"It came up 'private number', and I thought it was just [my wife] Victoria phoning me before my flight.

"He said 'It's Steve. Is it a good time for me to talk?'. He said 'There's a new beginning now, and I'm going to be the England manager; I'm going to be picking a new England captain and a new England team.

"'In every team there's going to be casualties, and I'm sorry to say you're one of the casualties'. That was sort of the end of the conversation once he'd said that.

"For me it was a case of crying and then thinking I was on a plane and someone would have had something to say about that.

"At first it wasn't a case of proving him wrong, because I had to come to terms with what had been said and be patient. But after maybe a day or two and speaking to my friends and my family, then it was a case of 'Okay, this is the situation, now how do I get myself out of it?'

"It felt as if it was (clear there was no way back). It felt as if - with the conversation and the things that were said - that that was it, to be honest."

Beckham was recalled for the friendly against Brazil - the first senior England match to be played at the new Wembley Stadium - and the Euro 2008 qualifier away to Estonia at the end of last season.

Describing how eager he was to receive a recall, Beckham said: "I had a phone call saying Steve had asked for my number and that he was going to call either today or tomorrow and I was like 'oh, can he not call me now?'

"I was hoping it was going to be the call to come back into the team - or he was just going to say 'can I have some tickets for the Galaxy?'. I was hoping it was going to be the first one, which it was in the end.

"To get picked against Brazil for the first game back at Wembley couldn't have been any sweeter."

Beckham made his debut for the LA Galaxy as a substitute in the friendly defeat to Chelsea at the Home Depot Center last weekend.