The Hindu : Sport / Football : McClaren bullish over Beckham selection

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Thursday, May 31, 2007
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McClaren bullish over Beckham selection

London: England coach Steve McClaren has not seen David Beckham play since he dumped him from the national team after the World Cup.

With his job on the line however, McClaren is ready to recall the in-form Real Madrid midfielder to England's starting line-up.

Beckham is set to start in a friendly against Brazil at Wembley on Friday and in a European Championship qualifier at Estonia on June 6. England needs to win at Estonia to keep its chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 on track.

When McClaren took over the England coaching job from Sven-Goran Eriksson in August, his first decision was to drop Beckham from the national team. Beckham was seen as untouchable under Eriksson and his celebrity off the pitch was threatening to overshadow his form on it.

Now, McClaren believes Beckham has played his way back into the side.

Good attitude

"David is the fittest I have seen him for a long time," McClaren said on Tuesday. "

He added that he had followed the lead of Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello, who reversed a decision to dump Beckham from the Spanish team after he announced in January he would sign with Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer after his contract ends on June 30.

"You've got to respect the work Fabio Capello is doing at Real Madrid," McClaren said. "He has had the same problems as me. He had no hesitation about bringing David back when he was on form and that has changed the fortunes of Real Madrid. I would be very foolish to ignore that."— AP

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