Soccer: Beckham fit for full game against Sweden

England soccer captain David Beckham says he is fully fit after injury and will not shirk any tackles against Sweden in the team's opening World Cup group F game on Sunday.

Asked if he was ready to play 90 minutes against the Swedes, Beckham, who broke a bone in his foot seven weeks ago, told a news conference yesterday: "Yes, being in a World Cup you've got to be sure you can last a game, and all the games.

"For me to go out there and last 60 minutes, it wouldn't be right. It would be unfair to do that to the rest of the squad and the staff because they've all worked so hard.

"You've got to go into every tackle thinking it's going to be okay and that's what I'm going to be doing for every tackle I go in for. I've been in for a few in training and it seems good."

Looking relaxed and smiling near England's base on Awaji Island, Beckham said: "I feel a lot better than I did four of five days ago. I've been training for the last two or three days with the lads and it's been nice."

Asked about being in the media spotlight since picking up the injury, the Manchester United midfielder said it was time that was now turned on the squad as a whole.

"Obviously, there's been a lot of hype about it, I've had a lot of well-wishers from family and friends - up to the Queen, which has been nice.

"It's been hard at times because I wanted to be fit so badly and finally in the last week it's all come together.

"But now, I think the focus has got to turn to the players and to the staff. It's been a little unfair on the rest of the squad because there has been so much hype around the foot. They're the important ones."

Despite the good news, Beckham admitted to fearing the worst when he first suffered his injury.

But he holds no grudges against Argentine midfielder Aldo Duscher, who made the rash challenge that caused the injury seven weeks ago in United's Champions League quarter-final, second leg match against Deportivo Coruna.

"When I did it, and stood on my foot, I knew that it was broken and I did think I would be out of the World Cup," he said.

"It was pretty bad at the time.

"But once the surgeon had looked at it, and gone through things with me, it put my mind at rest a touch.

"You've got to forgive," Beckham said of Duscher.

"I always forgive people, most of the time. It's not a problem."

Looking ahead to the finals, Beckham was confident about his team's chances of making progress against the Swedes, Argentina and Nigeria.

"We believe that we can beat Sweden and go on from there," the England skipper said.

"But we're not taking anything for granted. They're a good team and they've got some very good players."

- REUTERS

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