Glenn Hoddle has insisted he helped David Beckham after his red card in the 1998 World Cup, rather than 'throw him under the bus'.

Former England manager Hoddle was referenced in Beckham's documentary 'Beckham' late last year as slamming the former Manchester United man on the back of his red card against Argentina. 

The Three Lions icon lashed out at Argentina's Diego Simeone, who by his own admission went down softly, in the 47th minute of the game, forcing England to play with 10 men for the remainder of the last-16 clash after being given his marching orders.

England eventually lost on penalties, and Hoddle said after the match that the sending-off changed the game and that David will have to learn from his mistake after letting his side down.

Having previously claimed the words didn't bother him, Hoddle, speaking to Jeff Stelling on Football's Greatest, talked down the accusations, coming mainly from Beckham's wife Victoria and mother Sandra, insisting he in fact protected the midfielder.

'If I remember rightly - I haven't seen the documentary - I know I went to a press conference in France after the game and said exactly the opposite,' Hoddle said. 'I said David cannot be made a scapegoat.

'I presume that's not on the doc. But I actually went out and did the opposite. I remember phoning him afterwards and asking if he wanted help, he said no, I'm OK, the club is helping me, blah blah blah. Maybe he's forgotten that, I don't know. But I remember that distinctly.

'It was a dreadful time for him and he showed such character. Not about his abilities, but to come through that, and show the character that he showed, and the mentality to come through it and then see... the rest of his England career was magnificent from the lad.

'But throw him under the bus? No way. I actually protected him in more ways than he probably knows actually.' 

Hoddle fuelled the storm with his comments after the match, insisting that the sending-off changed the game and that David would have to learn from his mistake after letting his side down.

During the documentary, Victoria said: 'Glenn Hoddle didn't come out and try to protect him. And how old was David, 23?

'You're a kid at 23. Glenn Hoddle was a man. I wouldn't say a man actually, he was an older person.'

Opening up on the emotionally challenging time, David said: 'I wish there was a pill you could take to erase certain memories.

'I felt very vulnerable and alone. There was this horrible paparazzi guy (when I returned to England) and he said: "How do you feel about letting your country down? You're a disgrace".

Sandra, meanwhile, was scathing of Hoddle when interviewed. She said: 'Glenn Hoddle said his head wasn't in the right place, didn't he? I just put him on my hit list - people that upset me.'