David Beckham Unruffled By Fabio Capello Calling Him 'Too Old' For England

Posted Friday, September 10, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

CARSON, Calif.—Fabio Capello caused his fair share of furor by all-but retiring David Beckham following the World Cup.

"I say thank you very much for helping me at the World Cup but probably he is a little bit old," the Italian said of Beckham.

Since then, the English national team boss has softened on his stance, leaving a sliver of hope for the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder to force his way back into the setup.

"The door is open always for all players," Capello said. "But now I think about the young players."

The first step for David Beckham is regaining fitness. The 35-year-old tore his Achilles tendon in March while playing for AC Milan and missed the 2010 World Cup as well as the entire 2010 MLS season thus far.

However, the Galaxy removed Beckham from the Disabled List Thursday, with Beckham's stated return date coming up on Saturday against the Columbus Crew.

Beckham is keen to add to his 115 international caps, but knows he needs to focus on playing on the club level first.

"I'm always motivated. I've always said that I want to be available to play for my country," Beckham told reporters Thursday after training. "My main objective at the moment is to get myself fit, to get myself playing and what happens after that we’ll see."

Beckham said he talked to Capello following the Italian's comments and that their relationship remains strong.

"Things get said in press conferences and things get turned around sometimes but I've always had a good relationship with Fabio and that's not changed," Beckham said.

David Beckham Unruffled By Fabio Capello Calling Him 'Too Old' For England

"He's England manager. He has to look for the future and has to look for players who are coming through, and in the country we've got some great and talented young players coming through. These players need to be given the chance and they will be.

"The manager is also aware that there still needs to be some old heads in there, some experience. If I'm part of that, great, but my main objective right now is to get fit and playing again."

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena also thinks the 35-year-old has an England future, but agreed with Beckham that the focus should be fitness first.

"Talk about premature. We've got a player who has been out for six months with an Achilles injury," Arena said. "I think that [another cap] can certainly be done, but I don’t think that's a critical issue at this point."

Once he's fit, Beckham sees quite a bit more life left in his playing career.

"I think I could play for quite a few more years."