BECKHAM BACK FOR ENGLAND
Steve McClaren has denied being panicked into handing David Beckham an England recall, revealing he would have brought the former captain back two months ago had it not been for an untimely knee injury.McClaren named Beckham in his 26-man squad for next week's friendly against Brazil and the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia five days later. Although the decision had been widely expected, it has still come as something of a shock given McClaren's very public axing of the 32-year-old immediately after he succeeded Sven-Goran Eriksson as coach.
McClaren has admitted he made the decision to resurrect Beckham's international career after the friendly defeat to Spain at Old Trafford in February.
"It is not a panic measure, we have thought about it long and hard," said McClaren. "After the Spain game, we looked at the situation and re-assessed where we were because that get-together and game were such a big disappointment.
"We were looking at the possibility of changing things around, so David came into our thinking and reckoning then. We were monitoring his progress and he was under consideration for the Israel game but unfortunately, he got injured." McClaren continued.
The former Manchester United stars place in the starting line-ups against Brazil and Estonia is now virtually certain, even if the coach is unrepentant about the original decision to drop him.
A number of alternatives to replacing Beckham on the right have been looked at, including Steven Gerrard and Aaron Lennon, who is almost certain to withdraw from McClaren's squad with the knee injury he sustained against Albania on Friday, but none have come close to filling the void.
Beckham is joined in the squad by uncapped youngster David Bentley, as well as Reading left-back Nicky Shorey. Wayne Rooney's absence just makes it all the more of a relief for McClaren that Michael Owen is getting back to full fitness again after finally recovering from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered at the World Cup.
And, with Alan Smith available for the first time during his reign and Joe Cole for only the second, McClaren feels there is a freshness about his squad that can trigger an immediate upturn in fortune.
England Squad : Robinson (Tottenham), Carson (Liverpool), Green (West Ham), P Neville (Everton), R Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Bridge (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool), Dawson (Tottenham), King (Tottenham), Shorey (Reading), Beckham (Real Madrid), Gerrard (Liverpool), Jenas (Tottenham), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Bentley (Blackburn), Carrick (Man Utd), Lampard (Chelsea), Downing (Middlesbrough), Dyer (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Owen (Newcastle), Smith (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham).
