DAVID Beckham needs to take a long hard look in the mirror this summer.

The man dubbed 'Goldenballs' by a once adoring public has now lost his crown as the king of English football.

And, no, I'm not taking a cheap shot at the England skipper just because he missed a crucial penalty last night, no matter how terrible his effort was.

You need balls of Gold in that situation to step up and take a spot-kick in the first place, knowing the hopes of a nation weigh heavily on your shoulders.

At the end of the day, anyone can miss under that kind of pressure but Beckham's woeful attempt simply summed up his tournament for me.

Of the four games we played in Euro 2004, I don't recall Becks turning in one decent performance.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say he was the worst player to pull on an England shirt based on his contributions - or lack of them - over the last fortnight.

Beckham used to be renowned for bombing up and down the right and getting crosses into the box but his game has changed for the worse since he joined Real Madrid, where he spent most of last season playing in the centre.

These days he seems to want to come inside all the time and he plays more short little passess which is blunting his effectiveness.

He's not getting up and down anymore and his once silver-service from the right has gone from a steady stream to a trickle.

I'm sure his private life has affected his focus in the last six months as well.

That amount of adverse media attention is bound to take its toll and the result is Beckham now looks a pale shadow of his former self.

So maybe last night's events might just cause the skipper to take stock of his life.

Maybe it's time to slow down and start concentrating on what made him the icon he is today.

Beckham is already made for life so he doesn't need to go chasing more money.

It's time he started to take control of his life.

He's still got a big point to prove in Spain, where both he and Real failed miserably last season.

On top of that, he's now 29 and time is running out for him to take a major international tournament by storm.

In 1998, his sending off against Argentina cost us our place at the World Cup.

Two years later, the whole side then flopped at Euro 2000, and a metatarsal injury overshadowed his performances at the last World Cup.

So if Beckham really wants to be remembered as a true great, it's time to knuckle down and prove it to the nation.

Football must come before celebrity.