David Beckham has stressed his desire to reward the nation for their support by winning Euro 2004 while admitting his career would not be complete without an international trophy.

Beckham can picture the scenes which would greet the team at home if they won the European Championships, eclipsing even those which acclaimed Sir Clive Woodward's victorious rugby side.

However, he knows England can take nothing for granted as they prepare to face Croatia tonight in their final group game, needing a draw to reach the quarter-finals.

Euro 2000, when England beat Germany but then lost to Romania, stands as a clear warning, although they did secure a necessary point in the final group game against Nigeria at the 2002 World Cup.

Then again, the 65,000-capacity Stadium of Light in Lisbon is again set to be packed with England fans, just as it was for the opening tie against France.

''It's incredible. We have three-quarters of the stadium full and it's like playing a home game,'' observed Beckham.

''That's what pushes the lads on. If we're going through a tough time on the pitch, the fans lift us out of it. They do their job so it's up to us to do our job.''

He added: ''I'd just love to win it for the whole country. I feel we deserve it as a nation and our fans deserve it.

''The support we get in games is incredible. You never see that anywhere else in the world.

''I'd love to win it just to see the adulation and the atmosphere in London afterwards, seeing all the crowds.''

Despite recent difficulties off the pitch, Beckham could be portrayed as having the perfect life, with a family, fame and fortune in abundance, and a successful career.

However, he admits there is still one thing missing - success with England in a major tournament.

''I've won a lot in my career. I've been lucky enough to play in European Cup finals, FA Cup finals, winning the Premier League and coming second in the world player of the year,'' he said.

''But to win something for my country would top it all off for me.

''I've always said that I don't want to regret anything in my career, but there would be something missing if I didn't win anything with England.''

Against Croatia, Sven-Goran Eriksson is set to keep faith with the line-up that beat Switzerland 3-0 last Thursday.

He does have four players - Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and David James - on yellow cards, meaning they would be ruled out of any quarter-final tie if they are booked again tonight.

However, while Eriksson will urge calm from all his players - and Rooney especially - any left-over bookings are then wiped out, giving players a clean slate for the knock-out stages.

England's other concern is that Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out of contention for a place on the bench due to an upset stomach that has prevented him from eating for the past 48 hours.

''He's better but not feeling very well so he will, almost for sure, not be available,'' Eriksson said.

''It's a bit of a blow as he's very useful, especially if you want to defend a result.''

The England coach is, however, more positive about Nicky Butt's chances of making a recovery from injury in time to still play some part in the tournament.

''If we reach the semi-finals, then maybe he could be ready again,'' added Eriksson, even though Butt was initially ruled out of action for three to four weeks.

Not that Eriksson is taking England's last-four place for granted either, especially having seen how close Croatia came to defeating France.

Indeed, former Croatia striker Alen Boksic has warned Eriksson on a visit to the team hotel that Rooney holds no surprise value for tomorrow's opponents.

Former Middlsbrough man Boksic, who used to play for Eriksson at Lazio said: ''If Croatia play like we did against France, anything is possible.

''At the moment, Wayne Rooney is the biggest threat for England. He is some kind of phenomenon.

''But in Croatia, we are watching games all over the world. So Wayne Rooney is no surprise to us.''

England require only a draw to progress to the Euro 2004 quarter-finals - and a tie with Greece - but Gary Neville has has issued a warning.

The right-back was a member of the England team dumped out of the European championships four years ago following a disastrous 3-2 defeat by Romania.

England needed a draw that day to book their spot in the knockout stages but conceded a late penalty to lose and Neville is determined to ensure history fails to repeat itself.

''We won't be playing for the draw - that's not in our mentality. I remember what happened against Romania and I don't want it to happen again. We have to go into the match determined to win,'' he said.

Neville is still smarting at England's heartbreaking 2-1 defeat by France in their tournament opener last Sunday but revealed the opportunity to reach the quarter-finals has dulled the pain.

He continued: ''It was a tough result against France but it wasn't the hardest defeat I've had to bear because in tournament's there is always an opportunity to recover.

''We couldn't have done much more to beat France. Sometimes after games you just have to smile and say 'that's football'.''