NOT for the first time in his short, sharp career, David Beckham's volatile temperament last night left him facing the fiercest of hot spotlights when he displayed an appalling lack of judgment in a situation when a decision scarcely needed making.

Hugely talented and pop star footballer he may be, but just as he did in St Etienne in France '98 against Argentina, the privileged 24-year-old let himself and his colleagues down when he delivered a needless, spiteful foul shortly before half-time and was dismissed for it. That last night's referee was Argentinian merely added irony.

Already one goal down to Cristian Montecinos' fine, 14th minute direct free-kick, Manchester United were left playing the whole of the second half with 10 men in oppressive heat and with the whole of Brazil seemingly set against them.

Certainly the whole of the Maracana was; by the second half of this game it was full of vibrant Vasco da Gama fans relishing United's frustration.

There was something unpleasantly predictable that Beckham was the one United player to boil over. It is the downside to his fame that he is baited constantly wherever he goes.

Here it began the second he walked on to the lush pitch to warm-up, though as it was 37C at the time it was no surprise the United squad sought the shade.

Unfortunately it was near to the few Vasco fans in the ground at that point, and their insults were vicious, and audible. No one else received the same treatment.

None of which excuses Beckham's later actions, but this was one context. That of the incriminating tackle was another. There was no reason for Beckham to raise his foot, almost kung-fu style, on Jose Milian. But he did and he caught Milian nastily.

That was bad enough, but a brief fracas followed as the Necaxa players sought swift retribution and Beckham raised his hand. Referee Horacio Elizondo had few alternatives. The red card was out. The Mexicans refused to share the tunnel with United at the half-time interval.

Alex Ferguson's stiff support for Beckham afterwards was no great shock. Privately he may have had a different opinion.

Relief may have clouded Ferguson's thought process, however, because also not for the first time his team silenced their enemies by producing a comeback which, in the sweaty circumstances, was feisty even by their exalted standards.

Dwight Yorke was the one who scored the telling goal, tapping in an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer cross-cum-shot with eight minutes remaining, but once again it was the introduction of Solskjaer and fellow specialist substitute Teddy Sheringham which added renew ed impetus to United's strenuous efforts at self-resuscitation.

On a night of unexpectedly compelling, breathless drama, the fresh lungs were most welcome to United's recovery.

Yet it had appeared to have been snuffed out just over a minute before Yorke's equaliser when he had struck a weak penalty kick that allowed Hugo Pineda to save comfortably. Admittedly, there was an element of justice in this as the penalty award had been rather harsh against Hernan Vigna when Ryan Giggs' rising drive hit the Mexican.

United, though, could state reasonably that Necaxa's penalty was also a dubious refereeing decision: Montecinos fell quickly under Mikael Silvestre's 55th minute tackle.

Again, perhaps, justice was done when Mark Bosnich easily parried Alex Aguinaga's poor shot. Had the otherwise impressive Aguinaga scored then, United would surely be waking up with a humiliating hangover this morning.

Aguinaga, justifying his standing as a quicksilver playmaker, would have been its architect. From the first challenges he looked the most alert man on view, and when he darted onto a loose ball and ran at Jaap Stam there was an inevitably that a free-kick would be the result.

So it proved. It was in the United "D" and Montecinos struck it beautifully. Bosnich watched, helpless.

Roy Keane was exceedingly worked up by it all and was booked for his obvious disagreement with one refereeing call, but after the Beckham incident it was the United captain, typically, who prompted his team-mates. Pineda made a good save to deny the Irishman with 15 minutes to go, and when Sheringham swivelled onto a ball shortly after, only to balloon his effort over the bar, the despair on the bench was seen in the flaying of arms and the holding of heads.

Now the atmosphere in the Maracana was electric. The Vasco hordes were bouncing in co-ordination, flares were lighting up the Rio night sky. They even staged a taunting Mexican Wave.

But just when it was at its peak, Solskjaer flung his right leg at a high ball, it flew across the face of the Necaxa goal and Yorke does not miss from there.

United's celebrations spoke of the significance of the goal to them: they do want to win this tournament.

In a curious way, the spirited performances of both clubs, and the limelight that will come from Beckham's dismissal, brought some badly required attention and credibility to the tournament.

After the embarrassingly small crowds that turned up in Sao Paulo on Wednesday night, it was also unexpected to witness some passion in this, a real theatre of dreams.

Just don't tell David Beckham that. Not for the first time, he's got his knickers in a twist.

MAN UTD: Bosnich, G Neville, Irwin (Solskjaer 73), Silvestre, Stam, Butt (P Neville 73), Keane, Beckham, Giggs, Cole (Sheringham 73), Yorke. Subs Not Used: Rachubka, Van Der Gouw, Higginbottom, Cruyff, Greening, Wilson, Berg, Wallwork, Fortune. Sent Off: Beckham (43). Booked: Keane, Giggs, Sheringham, Yorke. Goals: Yorke 82.

NECAXA: Pineda, Cabrera, Almaguer, Aguinaga, Perez, Delgado, Lopez, Vigna (Ambriz 80), Milian, Montecinos (Vazquez 77), Higareda (Acosta 83). Subs Not Used: Alvarez, Guadarrama, Scotti, Terres, Ochoa, Velazquez, Becerril, Hernandez, Oliva. Booked: Delgado, Montecinos. Goals: Montecinos 15.

Attendance: 40,000.

Referee: HM Elizondo (Argentina).