BBC SPORT | FOOTBALL | England give Beckham time

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has said he is prepared to give captain David Beckham every chance of making the World Cup.

Beckham faces at least six weeks out with a broken foot after being injured during Manchester United's Champions League quarter-final victory over Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday.

Of course I'm willing to take a chance

England coach Sven Goran-Eriksson

Eriksson will give Beckham maximum recovery time by naming a 24-man England squad on 7 May.

England then have to name their 23-man World Cup squad by 21 May under Fifa rules ahead of their first game, against Sweden on 2 June.

"Of course I'm willing to take a chance," said Eriksson.

"It's extremely important. He's the captain, he's one of the best footballers in the world, so of course if there's a small chance that he can play we will take him with us."

But Eriksson admitted that the Beckham injury was a cause for concern.

England's key dates

17 April:
England v Paraguay

7 May:
Eriksson names provisional squad

13 May:
England squad fly to Dubai for a week's training

21 May:
Fifa deadline for final squad announcements

21 May:
England v South Korea

25 May:
England v Cameroon

"Of course I'm worried, after reading the papers the whole country seems to be worried, but it is not giving me sleepless nights as I cannot do anything about it.

"It's going to heal, or not and I can't do anything about it."

Eriksson spoke to Beckham just a couple of hours after he suffered the injury at Old Trafford.

"I spoke to him on the phone and of course he was sad after a bad injury but he was also optimistic."

While Eriksson is remaining hopeful, he admitted that life for the England team must go on.

Eriksson remains optimistic

"He's been the captain of England for 14 or 15 months and has always played extremely well," he said.

"His behaviour as captain has been absolutely perfect so of course we would miss him even though I'm very optimistic and I think he will come with us.

"But if we are not able to pick him, then we will just have to try to play football as well as we can without him.

"Things like this happen in the game. If David Beckham can't play, we still have to compete at the World Cup."

The England coach said he was also mindful of the captaincy situation.

"I have thought about a new captain as well as needing someone to play outside right. There are a lot of things to think about," he added.


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