David Beckham won't be playing in the World Cup, but he brought a little bit of the taste of the World Cup to Afghanistan.

That was the reaction Warrant Officer Steve Bowden after Beckham's visit to troops at Camp Bastion, the main British military base situated northwest of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province.

"David's visit has helped us all get in the right frames of mind for the World Cup," said Bowden. "He has really made us feel part of the excitement back home. It's very easy and understandable that people here get detached from all the day to day events at home and we have thousands of England fans here."