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Richard Sutcliffe: Beckham and Capello proving there is life in the old 'skip' yet
ANOTHER month and another triumph for Fabio Capello.
The Italian, during his 13 months in charge of England, has brought about an amazing transformation with the embarrassment and ridicule of the Steve McClaren era now but a distant memory.
He has brought pride back to the Three Lions, made qualification for the World Cup finals a probability rather than a possibility and, even in these most difficult of economic times, put a smile back on the face of the country.
Perhaps the biggest transformation of his reign, however, has come in the form of David Beckham.
Now, regular readers will know this column has been less than complimentary when it comes to the footballing prowess of the former England captain, certainly over the past couple of years anyway.
Ever since leaving Real Madrid for the comfort zone of America and the rather optimistic ambition of making football a respected sport among the masses, Beckham's footballing star has been on the wane.
He might have sold a few LA Galaxy shirts in the early months and boosted attendances at the Home Depot Center Stadium, but on the field Beckham has looked nothing more than an expensive luxury.
Such was his impact that Galaxy missed out on the play-offs in his first year and then posted the worst playing record in last season's MLS.
When wearing an England shirt, it has been a similar tale with the spark that made him this country's standout footballer during the early years of the Millennium being conspicuous only by its absence.
It seemed only a matter of time before Beckham's international career was brought to a merciful end.
Cue the arrival of a certain Mr Capello, a manager who quickly laid down the ground rules to England's under-performing players.
Beckham, who was famously dropped by the Italian during his final season at Real Madrid only to win his place back with sheer guts and determination, was told in no uncertain terms that to continue playing for England he would have to be playing top class football regularly.
This point was then forced home in November when the
33-year-old was dropped for the friendly in Germany despite Capello's squad being decimated by injury on the grounds that the MLS season was over.
Beckham took the words to heart and by the end of 2008 a loan switch to AC Milan had been agreed.
Cynics – whose number, I must admit, included this correspondent – felt it was nothing more than a PR exercise and that the closest he would get to the Milan team was in this week's friendly at Glasgow Rangers.
How wrong we were with Beckham, who looks much more the honed and trim figure we saw in a Manchester United shirt, having already impressed sufficiently in the San Siro that Milan officials are desperate to sign the midfielder on a permanent basis.
The club's doctors are even tipping him to play at the highest level for another five years, to the age of 38 or 39, just like Milan's most celebrated star Paolo Maldini.
It is an amazing turnaround that should see Beckham this week equal Bobby Moore's record of 108 appearances for England – the highest for an outfield player – by being named in Capello's team to face Spain.
And if agreement can be reached over a permanent switch to Milan, who would bet against Beckham cementing his place in history by playing in a fourth World Cup?
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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