"You rarely get noticed as a goalkeeper unless it's for a mistake, " said Peter Shilton, the former England star.

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"At a certain age, as a midfielder lots of things can go wrong stamina-wise, " said Shilton, who won 125 England caps.

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He shares the record of three with Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton.

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An England side, featuring Alan Shearer and several members of the 1990 World Cup squad including Paul Gascoigne and Peter Shilton, beat a Germany team 3-2 in front of almost 30, 000 spectators.

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Shilton also said he thought there was a good chance Beckham could go on to break the former keeper's overall record but did raise questions about some of the Los Angeles Galaxy player's appearances.

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The most capped English player of all time is Peter Shilton who finally retired his gloves at 47 while Dino Zoff captained Italy to a 1982 World Cup win four months after he turned 40.

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"People talk about his age but he is definitely capable of staying at the same level for two more years until the World Cup, " added Shilton, whose domestic career included spells at Leicester, Stoke, Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Derby.

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The England side included six of the starting line-up from the 1990 semi-final, with Gascoigne joined by Peter Shilton, Peter Beardsley, David Platt, Des Walker and Mark Wright, plus other members of the 1990 squad such as John Barnes and Trevor Steven.

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