David Beckham and England's Franco Baldini at the USA v Australia game

David Beckham's role for the England team seems to involve scouting the opposition after he was spotted watching England's Group C opponents, the United States.

Beckham was watching with Fabio Capello's assistant Franco Baldini as the US beat Australia 3-1 in Rustenburg. The Aussies are possible opponents for England in the second round.

Yet another team with over-worked medical staff is Honduras with midfielder Wilson Palacios being carried off on a stretcher during a 3-0 defeat by Romania.

The Tottenham Hotspur anchorman was taken to an Austrian hospital for tests on the injury to his shin, but the severity of the damage has still to be revealed.

Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel suffered an injury scare when he was taken to hospital for a scan on his ankle.

The Liverpool player picked up the problem in his country's match against Costa Rica but the results showed he would be fit to play in the World Cup. Skrtel said: "It is not too bad, it is just a gash."

One of England's other Group C opponents, Algeria, ended a run of four consecutive defeats by beating the United Arab Emirates 1-0 courtesy of a Karim Ziani penalty.

Serbia twice came from a goal down to earn its first victory in World Cup warm-up games with a 4-3 win over a Cameroon side without its skipper Samuel Eto'o.

Eto'o was missing after being red-carded in the 3-1 defeat by Portugal last Tuesday, while Serbia was missing Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic, who had a fever.

Elsewhere, Portsmouth's Kevin-Prince Boateng made his full debut for Ghana in their 1-0 win over Latvia at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, England.

Barcelona striker Thierry Henry has admitted that he is resigned to no longer being first-choice forward for France and is happy to play second-fiddle to Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka.

"There's a logic in football," said Henry. "Over the past four months, I have not played that much. There's a player in front of me and that's Nico. I accept that."

North Korea striker Tae-se Jong has promised to score in every game he plays at the World Cup and lead his country into the knockout stages.

"I will keep my promise of scoring one goal per game," said Jong, who scored both goals in his country's 2-2 draw with Greece in a recent warm-up game.

Ghana and Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has spoken movingly of the "very emotional" and agonising moments after he learned his World Cup was over, scuppered by a long-standing injury.

"I had my last assessment over a week ago with the Chelsea and Ghana doctors present. It took place at the hotel where all the Ghanaian players were staying and coming out of that meeting was very emotional for me."

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