McClaren ready to swallow his pride and bring Beckham back
Steve McClaren will almost certainly announce an end to David
Beckham's international exile today. After a frenzied day of
will-he-won't-he speculation, the indications last night were that
the England coach had gradually convinced himself that Beckham's
inclusion would be a valuable short-term fix for a team languishing
in fourth position in their Euro 2008 qualifying group.
A call-up for Beckham is likely to divide opinion throughout the
country and it has already created divisions within the Football
Association, with McClaren's assistant, Terry Venables, among those
thought to have reservations.
Beckham has not played for England since the World Cup and was
seemingly cast aside when McClaren took over last August. However,
desperate times call for desperate measures and McClaren is aware
that Beckham would add to the sense of occasion when England play
Brazil at Wembley on Friday and maybe provide a lift for the
qualifier against Estonia five days later. In McClaren's
beleaguered position he will want to exploit any feel-good
factor.
Beckham would rather feel it is for football reasons. He has been
in impressive form during Madrid's climb to the top of the Spanish
league. McClaren has not made a personal check on him at the
Bernabéu but has been monitoring his form and appears to have taken
little heed of Venables' misgivings. Sources say it is an 80%
chance that Beckham will return, particularly as there are doubts
about the fitness of Aaron Lennon, who lasted only 10 minutes of
the 3-1 win for England B against Albania in Burnley last
night.
"The squad was decided in my mind but we will have to assess
because of Aaron's injury," said McClaren, who may also include
David Bentley, the outstanding performer at Turf Moor. The coach
then made it clear he would not answer questions about Beckham.
"I'm announcing my squad on Saturday. You will all find out then.
But I'm not going to answer questions tonight."
Beckham's case was supported by the Madrid coach Fabio Capello, who
described him as "having never been in better form in the last two
years than he is now". That might seem a strange remark considering
their occasionally fraught relationship but the 32-year-old has
improved dramatically. "He agreed with me," said Capello. "I told
him that I cannot understand how someone playing so well can be
left out of his national team."
Roberto Carlos, Beckham's Madrid team-mate, was equally effusive.
"I don't know all of the circumstances of why he has not played for
England since the World Cup but I don't think it's because he is
not good enough," said the Brazilian. "It's difficult to understand
how you can not pick a player of such high quality."
McClaren will still face criticism, however, about what will be
perceived by many as a retrograde step. Beckham's comeback will be
of limited duration because it is almost unimaginable that he could
reach the 100-cap mark - he is currently on 94 - when he is playing
for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer.
