• Major League Soccer

Beckham primed for return

ESPN staff
September 3, 2010
David Beckham may soon be swapping the bench for the pitch © Getty Images
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Fabio Capello has left the door ajar for David Beckham to make an international comeback and the former England captain is ready to barge through after confirming he intends to return from injury next weekend.

The 35-year-old's World Cup dream was ended by an Achilles injury and he was dealt a fresh blow later in the summer when Capello made the claim that the midfielder was too old to take part in Euro 2012 qualifying.

That stance was softened in the face of a backlash and Capello said on Thursday that the "door is still open for all the players, always."

Beckham has been back in training with LA Galaxy for a fortnight and having suffered no setback, is ready to return a week on Saturday.

"The doctors' original [return] date was October 1, but I always kind of said I want to be ready before then," he told LA Galaxy's official website. "I'll keep my fingers crossed and hopefully will play in part of the game here against Columbus. I'll be on the bench, and hopefully I'll get on the field for 15-20 minutes. That's what I'm looking at."

Beckham has insisted that the thought of retirement only entered his head for the briefest moment.

He said: "When you first have an injury like this and realise how serious an injury it is, you worry that you're not going to get back to playing top-flight soccer. But that probably was in my head for only about 10 seconds."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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