Obviously the mini-media-buzz that surrounded Fabio Capello's omission of David Beckham from the England squad was reasonably warranted, but it makes us wonder about Beckham's future, as well as the intentions of Capello.

It's understandable that he's well short of match fitness, and one can't hold that against Capello - sentimentality would have been a silly reason to call him up, and I'm sure that both the coach and player would want the 100th cap to be merited, and the call-up to be necessary.

However, on the issue of match fitness - it is a tricky situation. The MLS doesn't start until late March, and it's possible that by then Capello will have become more familiar with the English game and players, and a bit more rigid in his team selection. Capello has in any case not been a big one for rotating players, and if he finds his side working by the time Beckham gets match fit in April, it might be tough.

Granted, there aren't too many international ties between now and then, but International management often involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work and premeditated decisions; because you don't have the players together very often, team selections and tactics are made ready so that when training sessions begin, everything is in place for match preparation.

As for the actual issue of match fitness, the low standard of the MLS will prove to be an obstacle. It's quite possible that the month of training at London Colney with Arsenal has got Beckham in better shape than what a couple (or more) of months in  the MLS would. Arsenal are well known for their intensive training sessions, and the excellent fitness of their players. Beckham spent two weeks on intensive fitness training, and by the end of his stint was fully involved with the players.

The poverty of the opposition (and to some extent his own teammates) in the MLS means that Beckham is going to take a while to find his feet. Physically he might be fit, but match sharpness, especially the level required for the England squad, might be hard to come by. And even if Becks is sharp, and playing well, it's entirely possible that Capello would rather pick someone who is performing well in the Premier League. All the other England squaddies are domestically based, and Capello is not going to travel all the way to the States to watch Beckham play. He will have to rely on the word of his scouts, and TV coverage (assuming he doesn't destroy the TV after 5 minutes of having to put up with the MLS commentary); it's always hard to tell how prepared a player is from so far.

And lastly, there is of course the possibility that Capello is just testing out the other players, before making an eventual decision. He is well aware of Beckham's abilities after he broke back into Capello's Real Madrid side last season, and helped inspire them to the title. He knows exactly what Beckham can bring to his team, and he knows exactly how Beckham operates under his tactics, so he might just be using this time (they are friendlies) to see how the other England candidates do.

What do you think about Beckham's chances for his 100th cap, and his England future? Leave your comments below!

Apparently, there is some sort of clause in the Beckham-Galaxy contract that might allow Real to hangon to him .

HAHAHAHA if that happens... anticlimax of the century.

Well, the first set of group matches at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup are complete. Admittedly it's not the most prestigious or exciting tournament in the world, but it is important to the development of the game in an area where football is growing at a very rapid rate.

Opening day opened with a bit of an upset, Canada toppling Costa Rica 2-1 with goals from Deportivo midfielder Julian de Guzman. Costa Rica are clearly not the same without their talisman Paulo Wanchope, and it will be interesting to see how they fare in this tournament. They have always been exciting, difficult opposition with Wanchope leading the line, now nobody knows.

Two Francophone teams also faced off that day - Guadeloupe and Haiti playing to a 1-1 draw.

Then, the next day, the USA produced a lacklustre performance in a 1-0 win over Guatemala. It was interesting to see since the US are somewhat favourites for the tournament. They have a host of European-based players, and of course the MLS is one of the best 3 leagues in the region. On the day however, they were very ineffective. The Guatemalans were extremely physical, and managed to bully the Americans a bit, but it's all part of the game.

Several voices in the media have criticised the physical play from the Guatemalans, but there is a huge element of hypocrisy to that. The USA have long been a very physical team, full of athletes and big strong lads at the back and in the middle. That they now start getting bullied by the Guatemalans (who hardly have a reputation for being physical, or at least effectively so) now seems a bit silly. Still, a win is a win. The only goal was scored by Clint Dempsey, who although he was patchy, seems to be in a bit of form having ended the season well with Fulham. Ogyuchi "Gooch" Onyewu failed to keep his cool in the face of provocation from the infuriating Ruiz, but really the USA will have to play miles better if they think they can win. This is of course a big test for coach Bob Bradley, having replaced the "legendary" (he qualifies doesn't he?) Bruce Arena. History has often shown that successors to legends seldom last long, but play their part in paving the way for the future.

Trinidad & Tobago, who gave a decent showing at the World Cup lost pathetically to El Salvador, 2-1, although almost ALL their big name players were missing.

Neighbours Panama and Honduras played out a thrilling 3-2 game. Losers Honduras had the odds against them from the start when they had a man sent off after 26 minutes, and then found themselves a goal down after 33. They rallied well through MLS star Amado Guevara, but then conceded another two goals. They scored a Costly consolation in the 90th minute.

Finally, heavyweights Mexico were given a scare by minnows Cuba (no offence Fidel), when they allowed the Cubans to score the first goal. But they soon sorted matters out through their long-necked talisman striker Jared Borgetti (who is also quite long-in-the-teeth by now as well) to make it 1-1, and then up-and-comer Nery Castillo scored the winner. The Mexicans had a full-strength side out and really made hard work of their more baseball-inclined opposition.