Capello Admits Beckham Mistake

Fabio Capello said last night that David Beckham could return to the Real Madrid first team but told the Englishman: the ball is in your court.

In the wake of Beckham's decision to join LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer the Madrid coach claimed Beckham would never play for his club again. Now, however, Capello says he has not made an enemy of the former England captain and that the door remains open if Beckham can prove he deserves a recall.

Beckham was left out of the Madrid squad to face Villarreal tonight but Capello blamed this on a minor knee injury that prevented him from training yesterday.

Asked if he had been too hasty in discarding Beckham, Capello said: "Often you make mistakes but we will continue the same line [of giving preference to younger players]." He added: "Beckham has not trained today. This issue is down to the doctors and I can't pick him. To be in the team you need to have trained. It all depends on his physical condition, as is the case with all players. I have no friends or enemies. What I have is a squad of players and every game I have to pick the players that I think are best. It is as simple as that. Can he play? Right now we are very short of players but whether or not he plays depends on him too.

"If he is in a good physical condition, on form and mentally right, he can be part of the team but he has to prove that."

Ronaldo, the Brazilian striker who is also surplus to Capello's requirements, was in Italy yesterday undergoing a medical. His expected £5m transfer to Milan was welcomed yesterday by Kaka, Ronaldo's Brazil team-mate. The Milan playmaker said: "Ronaldo's greatest strength is the ability he still has to decide a match with one moment of brilliance."

Feyenoord will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne over their Uefa Cup exclusion which has seen Tottenham Hotspur granted a bye into the fourth round. The Rotterdam club said yesterday it could not be held responsible for provocative crowd disturbances before and during a group stage match against Nancy in France on November 30.

"We want to have the verdict of the [Uefa] appeals board tested in juridical terms as we have the feeling that justice has not been done," said Feyenoord's financial director, Onno Jacobs.

Matthieu Reeb, secretary-general of the CAS, said the court was confident the case could be heard and a verdict announced in time for the first leg to go ahead on February 15 if it ruled in Feyenoord's favour. The club has said it will prepare for the tie in the expectation of having the ban overturned.

During the trouble at Nancy tear gas was used to control rioting Feyenoord fans who spilled on to the pitch. The match was suspended for half an hour.