ENGLAND skipper David Beckham is confident he is about to lead his country through an exciting period of challenging the rest of the world for top honours.

When Beckham left Munich's Olympic Stadium after an "amazing" 5-1 victory over Germany on Saturday he could just sense that they are nearly ready to compete at the highest level.

But first Sven-Goran Eriksson's men have got to win their final two Group Nine qualifying matches with Albania, tomorrow night at St James' Park, and Greece on October 6.

At 26, the Manchester United midfielder has already had his hands on a plethora of trophies at club level including the European Cup, the FA Cup and the Premiership crown.

But France's domination over the past few years and England's failure has meant that Beckham has enjoyed little success on the international scene.

But now, under Eriksson's guidance, England are showing signs of exactly what they are capable of achieving, and Beckham, who has no intention of relinquishing the captain's armband, can draw parallels from the current national team squad and the United side that has dominated the domestic game for so long.

"Mr Eriksson has brought his best experience into the team and has brought the best out of his players," said Beckham. "The character he has instilled in this squad is excellent.

"It reminds me of playing with Manchester United because of the character what is there - that will to keep going until you get exactly what you want.

"There's a lot more to come from this team. A lot of young players realise that there is a good thing happening.

"A couple of them pointed out in the first 15 minutes against the Germans that we weren't up to scratch, but in the end we have come off with a great victory. That's the character we have got.

"I have had success all the way with Man United through hard work - you have got to bring that attitude into this squad and Mr Eriksson has done that.

"People say it's too early for us to go to a major competition and do well but I don't think it is. We are not scared of anyone.

"Success with the national team is a must and it's about time we did something."

It is testament to Eriksson that he had the belief in Beckham to hand him the captain's armband on a permanent basis when many believed he did not have the required leadership qualities on such a grand stage.

But now the Leytonstone-born superstar is revelling in the role and he is determined to remain in that position until he retires.

Beckham admits that it took him time to adjust, mainly due to the doubters voicing their concerns, but he feels he is getting better with every game he has under his belt.

"I want to stay captain for the rest of my career," said Beckham who ironically does not lead United out. "I do not want to play for England without being captain.

"I love the responsibility of it and being involved with a team like this and being captain is just the best feeling I've had.

"The responsibility has made me grow up - grow up in the sense of the way I play on the pitch and the responsibility I have on the pitch.

"That feeling I have of being captain is unbelievable and I would like to keep hold of that feeling."

Despite knowing that England are now looking strong for a place in the 2002 World Cup, being held in Japan and Korea, Beckham insists there is still work to be done.

And when Eriksson's men go out on to the St James' Park turf against Albania the skipper has asked for patience from the supporters, who will be expecting another high scoring game from the hosts.

Beckham said: "We beat the Germans at Euro 2000 and everyone was saying we were going to go all the way and win the competition, three days later we were out.

"We learned a lot from that and that will be with us on Wednesday.

"We all got carried away by the result on Saturday, but patience is going to be the key. The crowd will probably be wanting us to go out and score four or five in the first ten minutes.

"But it's going to be one of those games where expectations are going to be massive.

"Everyone has got to calm down and not get carried away and be patient with us. It took us 70-odd minutes to score in Albania so we will just have to keep focused."

No matter how high expectation levels are on Tyneside, Beckham believes he is confident of a good reception from the North-East faithful.

It took time for him to win over large sections of the public following his sending off against Argentina in France '98, but that has now been erased and he is confident the Geordie crowd will provide the players with a great atmosphere come kick-off.

"I don't think we need to tell them to get behind us because up here they're fanatical," said Beckham. "I found that just on Sunday when I went shopping, which probably wasn't my best idea!

"When I've played at St James' with United they have always been nice to me so I think they will be a good crowd for the game."