Beckham's Hopes Rise in the East

With the air of a man whose burden is being lightened by the day, Sven-Goran Eriksson announced yesterday that David Beckham, England's talisman, looks likely to take a full part in the team's opening World Cup game against Sweden in Saitama on Sunday.

Seven weeks after his foot was broken in a tackle by the Argentinian player Aldo Duscher, Beckham took a full part in yesterday afternoon's training session. Earlier Eriksson had felt able to dispel all the recent suggestions that his captain was preparing to return home, having given up the fight for fitness, or was no more than a 50-50 bet to face Sweden.

"For me he's never been 50-50 and certainly he's never been out," the coach said. "From what the doctors, the masseurs and the physios said, we always thought he would be fit for the Sweden game and the worst that could happen would be if not Sweden, OK, then Argentina. He's always been very focused on playing the first game. One week after the injury he said, 'OK, I'll be ready.' While we were still in England, Manchester United's doctors were convinced he would be ready. And our medical staff have said the same.

"He did a session this morning and he did everything. Free-kicks, some corners, a lot of shooting, a lot of running, without any pain at all. Hopefully there will not be a reaction. If things go on as we hope, yes, he will start. It helps a lot. Until this week we couldn't be sure who would play at outside-right. We have a lot of options, but we don't have another David Beckham."

Of the other recent casualties, Nicky Butt, Ashley Cole, Robbie Fowler and David Seaman also took part in the afternoon session, and Eriksson expects them all to be under consideration for the match with which England begin their campaign to qualify from Group F. The sole doubt surrounds Kieron Dyer, who is recovering from damage to knee ligaments, and even there the forecast is promising.

"We have to make a decision on Thursday or at least Friday," Eriksson said. "We have had very positive words about him for the second game, if he is not ready for the first. If you have all the other players fit, you can afford to have one player in that situation.

"We can live with it. But if they tell me he is not fit for Argentina either, then I have to reconsider and think about if it's fair to have that situation." He has not yet decided whether David Dunn or Alan Smith, both on stand-by, would be called up in Dyer's place. "It's a problem I hope not to have," the coach said.

As a result of the general improvement, Eriksson believes he will be able to field a side in which no one is playing out of position - something that seemed highly improbable only a few days ago. "Let's see at the end of the week," he said. "At this moment I couldn't tell you the line-up even if I wanted to." But the team sheet, in 4-4-2 formation, is now most likely to read: Seaman; Mills, Ferdinand, Campbell, A Cole; Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Heskey; Vassell, Owen.

Eriksson was full of praise for the attitude of the injured players. You only had to visit the treatment rooms in their hotel, he said. From seven o'clock in the morning until half past midnight, there would always be one of the injured group in there sweating on a running machine or having a massage.

All of them, he said, had shown their desire not to miss out. "David Beckham is extremely professional and of course extremely keen to play in the World Cup again. But it's the same with the others."

There has been no new x-ray to certify that Beckham's broken metatarsal has mended. "I knew that they were very happy with the last one they did, and they had a lot of talks with the medical staff at Manchester United. They're working together and I think they've decided it's not necessary to do another one. The most important thing is that we are sure that a small tackle, a normal tackle, couldn't break the bone again and put him out for six months or even longer."

That first normal tackle will come during a training session, from a colleague. "You can't go to a player and say, 'Now, tackle Beckham.' It will come automatically. And he'll tell me if he's fit or not. We have doctors, masseurs, physios, coaches and managers, but at the end there's only one person who can tell me if he's fit or not, and that's him."

He was not worried that opponents would target the most famous non-kicking foot in the game. "No. It's sport. I would never tell a player to do that against an opponent. And I think the managers of Sweden would be the same."

Only once, Eriksson mused, had he experienced such interest in a single footballer's recovery. That was at Roma, when Falcao hurt his right knee, imperilling his appearance with Brazil in the 1986 World Cup. "But this is bigger. All the world is concerned about the left foot of Beckham. With Falcao, it was only half the world."

Injury watch

David Beckham (foot)

Returned to full training yesterday; has good chance of playing Sweden on Sunday

Nicky Butt (knee)

Seemingly unaffected by injury when training yesterday but has not played since April

Ashley Cole (knee)

Wore protective bandage around knee in training but not a serious worry for first game

Kieron Dyer (knee)

Took part in some training exercises, including jogging and short passing, but not fully fit yet

Robbie Fowler (hip)

Minor injury scare after goal against Cameroon on Sunday but back in training

David Seaman (groin)

Rested on Sunday as a precautionary measure but sure to start against Sweden