PARIS (AFP) - David Beckham celebrated reaching a century of England caps by insisting that he can keep his international career running all the way to the next World Cup in South Africa.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star had been expected to win his 100th cap from the bench but England coach Fabio Capello opted to start him and, after just over an hour of action, he departed to a standing ovation from the Stade de France crowd.

Fans of both teams stood to applaud him off the pitch and Beckham, whose wife, Victoria, and the rest of his family were in the stands, admitted it had been a hugely emotional moment in a career that has been rich in drama.

"It's a huge achievement. To reach 100 caps is a big thing, especially in English football, and I'm very proud of that," he said.

"Getting 100 caps doesn't happen every day and to have my family here and my friends and the support of the fans was incredible.

"The reception was amazing, from both sets of fans. You expect it from your own fans and I thank them for that. But also the French people as well, it was an amazing standing ovation. I'm very proud of that because if there was another place after Wembley I would like the game to be it was here. It's one of my favourite cities. It was a nice ovation."

Beckham made his England debut in September 1996, in an away fixture in Moldova. Twelve years later he has become one of only five Englishman to be selected 100 times - alongside Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton.

With England due to play four further friendlies and four World Cup qualifiers this year Beckham could potentially end 2008 with a total of 108 caps, leaving him second on the all-time list alongside Moore and with only Shilton, who won 125 caps, ahead of him.

Whether he is able to keep his place is still a matter of intense debate but the LA Galaxy player is happy at the moment just to reach his century.

"I'm very proud to have reached that figure. And to do it on a pitch that Zizou (Zinedine Zidane) graced was fantastic. It was very emotional," said Beckham.

The only disappointment for Beckham was that he was unable to inspire the kind of performance or result his supporters craved, with a Franck Ribery penalty earning France a comfortable 1-0 victory.

"It was disappointing to lose but that happens when you don't score goals against good teams like France," he said.

"I think we played well, we played some good football in the first half and frustrated the French team and the French people. But if you don't score there's always a chance you can concede. Good luck to the France team because they played well.

"But the most important thing for me was to prove my fitness and I felt I did that. I felt very fresh, I felt better than I thought I would. As much as you work hard in pre-season there's nothing like playing games - and tonight I enjoyed it.

"I've played under Fabio Capello before and he knows what I'm like as a player, you don't have to prove anything to managers on that side of things. But I wanted to prove my fitness was good and I think I did.

"We didn't win but as soon as a new manager comes in there's always a period where it takes a while to get going. But I think he was pleased. He was pleased with the way we passed the ball around in the first half against top opposition. But if you don't score in that spell then teams like France are always going to capitalise on that, and they did."

The entire England squad signed a shirt and presented it to Beckham before he left Paris and striker Michael Owen summed up the sentiment behind the gift as he said: "Congratulations to David on getting the 100. It's a big achievement. He's a fit lad, he's hungry and he's got a tremendous right foot and I'm sure he'll get many more."

Beckham confirmed afterwards that he does not want to retire, despite waving to fans as he left the field.

"That wasn't goodbye," he insisted. "Definitely not. It was just a thank you."