Football

Beckham (right) played under Capello at Real Madrid

Beckham left out of England squad

David Beckham has been left out of Fabio Capello's first England squad to play Switzerland on 6 February।

It means Beckham will be left still searching for his 100th cap, although Capello has not fully closed the door on the 32-year-old former captain।

Capello, who also dropped Beckham at Real Madrid, is thought to have had doubts over his match fitness।

The Italian will name his provisional party at 1530 GMT on Thursday, with the final squad announced on Saturday।

Beckham has not played a competitive game since England's Euro qualifying defeat by Croatia on 21 November.
However, Beckham has been training at Arsenal and told BBC World in Brazil on Tuesday that he "is as fit as I can be। I'm fit and sharp and I'm ready to be selected".

The midfielder, who had been in the resort city of Natal to announce plans to expand his soccer academy, also posed for the cameras showing off his footwork skills on a beach.

But Capello does not appear to share Beckham's view and can point to the fact that Beckham's LA Galaxy side have not played competitively since their MLS season ended last October।

Beckham will now have to wait to join Peter Shilton, Bobby Moore, Sir Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright in the exclusive club of players with 100 caps।

Or indeed face up to the distinct possibility he may not play for England again।

Capello also has to make a decision on the issue of who will be captain, something which the 61-year-old has given paramount importance to.
"There are many things I have to evaluate and I must come up with a choice that is right," said the Italian।

"A captain must be a leader, someone who carries the team, somebody that in every moment is important for the team।"

Chelsea centre-back John Terry, likely to miss the friendly because of injury, was the leader of choice under McClaren, but Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has given his endorsement to Rio Ferdinand, while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard will also be in the running।

There is also the issue about who will be Capello's number one goalkeeper, with Tottenham's Paul Robinson, Aston Villa's Scott Carson, West Ham's Robert Green, Portsmouth's David James and the uncapped Joe Hart of Manchester City all in the frame।

Meanwhile, other players understood to be in the running for a place in the final squad include Blackburn midfielder David Bentley, Reading striker Dave Kitson and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young।

FA boss expresses England fears

Football Association boss Brian Barwick admits he is worried the pool of talent available to England boss Fabio Capello is not as well-stocked as it should be.

In an interview with BBC sports editor Mihir Bose, Barwick said: "We do have good players, but we don't have 50, 60, 70 players to pick from any more।"

Barwick also felt the Premier League should be helping redress the balance।
"The Premier League is a great league but it has a responsibility to deliver some good players to the FA," he said।

Barwick said it was important for the health of the game in this country to have a flourishing national side.

"A great England team is great for English football right across the piece," he said.

The Premier League responded to Barwick's comments by claiming they already invested a lot of time and resources in developing England stars of the future।

"The clubs are intellectually and financially committed to producing home-grown players," said Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson.

"Over £40m a year is invested by Premier League clubs in youth development, but also it's about standards of coaching, it's about grass-roots as well।

"We're working with the FA to ensure the coaching certificates and the coaches that they are responsible for, as well as the raw materials that come into the academies, are up to scratch."

Barwick raised his concerns about the national side as he celebrated his third anniversary as the FA's chief executive।

It is also less than a week until Capello leads England out for the first time following his appointment as Steve McClaren's successor.

Switzerland will provide the opposition at Wembley on Wednesday as the 61-year-old Italian attempts to resurrect England's fortunes following their failure to qualify for this year's European Championships।

Barwick admits it is frustrating to see the England team struggle at a time when the Premier League is prospering.

"It's something of a dilemma for us," he said। "Are there enough English players? There aren't the same number of English players, that's for certain। We have to sort it out।

"Some of the top teams have less English players in them than foreign players. That's just the way the game has gone.

"That's not to say the players we have can't deliver। It's about having the right situation in place for them to deliver।"