DAVID BECKHAM revealed last night how he was branded gay by angry Turkey midfielder Tugay.

The England captain blew a kiss at Tugay after the Blackburn Rovers man tried to wind him up with repeated taunts.

Beckham, married to pop star Victoria and a father of two, said: "He was questioning my sexuality, so I blew him a kiss!

"At the end of the day, they were probably upset because they lost a game to a better team.

"Their players came over after our second goal and I think Alpay got involved with one of the fans. I'm sure someone noticed it or someone's got it on TV."

Beckham and England survived the supreme test of their temperament to secure the win that put them in charge of Group 7.

After picking up an early booking, the irascible Manchester United midfielder was involved in at least one fracas as Turkey subjected him to a physical and verbal bombardment.

But Beckham rode out the storm and helped to mastermind a memorable victory that has put England back on track after a handful of poor performances.

He said: "I think you're going to have those sorts of things go on in games like that because it was a passionate atmosphere.

"When I got booked, I didn't think that was a booking. My arm caught him, but it wasn't on purpose.

"But when you get players talking to the ref like that, sometimes they can be affected.

"There were little kicks and pinches going on. I think one of their players pinched Rio Ferdinand on the arm and tried to get him to react, but our players were strong.

"Sometimes you get involved in things, and I'm sure people will say the red mist was coming back. But it wasn't.

"I kept calm for the rest of the game."