Not another Argy

David Beckham's running battle with Argentine players is merely a coincidence and not the result of a conspiracy, according to his South American teammate Santiago Solari.

Beckham was sent off for only the third time in his career on Wednesday after being shown a second yellow card for tangling with Valencia's Argentina midfielder Pablo Aimar.

Coming three minutes from time it hardly affected the result as Real cruised to a 3-0 win in the home leg of their Kings Cup quarter-final but Beckham will now be suspended for the away leg next Wednesday.

And fellow Argentine Solari could not resist a bit of leg pulling at Beckham's expense in the wake of the latest chapter in the Englishman's rather dubious history against players from a certain South American country.

He joked: 'I think it has to be just coincidence that David has all these problems against players from Argentina.

'I always say to him: "Hey man, what's up with the Argentines?" and we always fight about it but we are only joking. I think David is a fantastic guy. He likes Argentines - he doesn't have a problem - except for on the pitch, it seems.'

Solari promised to get to the bottom of the problems between Beckham and his countrymen, which began with Diego Simeone in World Cup '98 and have since included confrontations with Aldo Duscher, Lionel Scaloni, Jose Luis Acciari and now Aimar.

Solari said: 'In the things that have happened this season he hasn't known that the players are from Argentina. I don't think there is a conspiracy against him by Argentine players - but I will try to find out if there is one!'

Beckham's first booking on Wednesday was for dissent after referee Luis Medina Cantalejo awarded a free kick against Real skipper Raul.

After the match Beckham claimed that, even if he had spoken out of turn, Cantalejo would not have understood him. But the £25million signing has admitted in the past that team-mates have been educating him in some unsavoury Spanish words.

TV pictures of Sunday's 1-1 draw at Real Betis clearly showed Beckham mouthing a word to the ref which roughly translates as a more forceful version of the English expression 'goodness me'.

Beckham blamed his first dismissal in four years on the card-happy Cantalejo and the referee's displays this season would seem to back that up.

Cantalejo has dished out 34 yellow and two red cards in six league games this season - an average of six a match.

Real boss Carlos Queiroz clearly shared Beckham's opinion. He said: 'I think the referee was a bit nervous at the end of the game. There was too much pressure from outside influences and the second yellow card was an excuse for a couple of things, but we need to accept it.

'He (Beckham) was running and he didn't deliberately hit the player, but the interpretation of the referee was that he did try to take him down. I don't think that was right.'

However, the Portuguese coach is impressed with Beckham's transition to the Spanish League and said he would be a big loss as Real chase their first domestic cup success in 11 years.

Queiroz said: 'I think David played very well and he is starting to feel much better.

'For us, David is so important for the quality he has. It is hard for us to replace him because we don't have another player of his calibre. At least he can have a rest.'