Beckham set to snub Capello's offer of Wembley swansong

Published on Thursday 12 August 2010 16:56

DAVID Beckham is set to reject Fabio Capello's offer of playing in a farewell match for England at Wembley despite the Italian calling time on the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder's international career.

Beckham will seemingly play no part in England's Euro 2012 bid following Capello's frank admission ahead of Wednesday night's 2-1 friendly win over Hungary at Wembley.

Capello revealed after that game that Beckham could be given one more chance to pull on the Three Lions shirt at Wembley so fans could pay tribute to the 35-year-old. If fit, his swansong would have been the friendly with France on 17 November - a match the Football Association are yet to confirm.

However, his agent insists the former England captain, who has been dropped by his country before, has no intention of hanging up his boots.

A statement read: "For your info, there has been no discussion of retirement. He will always be available for his country, when fit and if needed he will be there."

Capello, meanwhile, has admitted he is embarking on the biggest challenge of his managerial career. Although England were able to coax a win out of their friendly with Hungary thanks to Steven Gerrard's second-half brace, many questions remain about the revolution starting to take place.

In bringing in a clutch of highly-rated youngsters, all of whom performed creditably, Capello was throwing himself at the mercy of Arsene Wenger and Roberto Mancini, knowing any extended absences for Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Adam Johnson and Joe Hart will bring their international ambitions to a grinding halt.

The lack of depth among the goalkeepers was made painfully obvious by the presence of under-21 duo Scott Loach and Frankie Fielding on the substitutes' bench at Wembley, even if Scott Carson, Chris Kirkland and Robert Green would surely be the go-to men should anything happen to either Hart or Ben Foster, who was forced to pull out with a back injury.

There is still a debate over which forward formation suits Wayne Rooney best, plus the concern over the Manchester United man's form given it is now ten games since he found the net for his country and he is without a goal in any form of the game since March.

It is against that backdrop that Capello will select his squad for the opening Euro 2012 double-header against Bulgaria and Switzerland in a fortnight's time. Little wonder the Italian feels he is doing it tough.

"This is the biggest challenge of my career," he said."The World Cup was not so good for me, so this is really important."

Although Capello can take some credit for the victory, and the manner in which a new-look team has taken shape so quickly, it appears he has not altered his stance on communication, or the lack of it.

Finding both Paul Robinson and Wes Brown announcing their international retirements within 24 hours of his latest squad being named hinted at a breakdown in personal contact.

That a figure such as Beckham should find out about his imminent international retirement via the media is staggering given the former captain spent a month in Capello's company in South Africa during the summer.

But having made his comments in an interview broadcast by ITV immediately before the Hungary game but believed to have been conducted some time before, was it beyond Capello's imagination to pick up the phone and let a man capped 115 times by his country know what was coming?

Given the furore that blew up around the timing of Capello's team announcements at the World Cup, it would appear there is an issue to be resolved, even if the England coach insists there is not.

"Absolutely not," he said when asked if there were any bridges to be built. "My relationship with the players is good. I have never had any problems and I am looking forward. We have to evaluate what happened this summer but then quickly forget. It is not easy but this is a new adventure and I have to find new players."

Reflecting on another barren night for Rooney, Capello said he expected it will take at least a fortnight for the striker to find his form again. "He can make the difference in any game but he is not in good form at the moment," said Capello. "He has to play more. It is impossible to play well after only two half matches and another 65 minutes. It is simply not enough."