Soccer: Beckham hopes rise as China and Russia suffer

LONDON - David Beckham's influence on the build-up to the World Cup was felt again on Sunday as England remained positive about their captain's fitness and Argentina's Diego Simeone reopened some old wounds.

Simeone admitted he deliberately tried to get the Manchester United midfielder sent off when the countries met at the 1998 World Cup in France as Beckham -- in South Korea with the England party -- continued his rehabilitation from a broken bone in his foot.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Nigeria -- England and Argentina's group F opponents -- named their 23-man squad for the finals, while China and Russia suffered setbacks with unexpected defeats.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was upbeat about Beckham's recovery as his players trained ahead of a warm-up match against co-hosts South Korea on Tuesday.

"Beckham's condition is rather good," the Swede told reporters. "Of course, we cannot be sure, but all the medical staff are very positive that he will be ready for Sweden.

"It may have been a month or so since he got injured, but I'm sure he won't have forgotten how to play football in that time."

Eriksson, already without the injured Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard, has given midfielder Kieron Dyer, who has a knee injury, two more days to prove his fitness for the tournament beginning on May 31.

Simeone, who trained with the Argentina squad in front of 3,500 local Japanese fans on Sunday, clashed with Beckham four years ago.

The England player was shown a red card for kicking Simeone during the team's second-round defeat on penalties by Argentina.

"I had tackled him and we both fell to the ground," Simeone said in an interview with the UK's Observer Sport Monthly.

"As I was trying to stand up that was when he went on to kick me from behind," he added. "And I took advantage of that. And I think anyone would have taken advantage of that in just the same way."

The England-Argentina match on June 7 is one of the most eagerly-awaited games of this year's competition.

Nigeria coach Festus Onigbinde left Borussia Dortmund's Sunday Oliseh and Ipswich Town's Finidi George out of his squad.

Both players disappointed in this year's African Nations Cup and Onigbinde had threatened to purge some of the team's old guard.

China, set to make their World Cup debut, lost 1-0 to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in a friendly.

"I think it's OK that we didn't score today," China coach Bora Milutinovic said. "I hope we don't score against Portugal (in an upcoming friendly). I hope we wait to score against Brazil or Turkey once we get to the World Cup."

As well as Brazil and Turkey, China meet Costa Rica in group C.

Russia finished bottom of the standings in a four-team international tournament as they lost 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw with a makeshift Yugoslavia side.

The Russians, drawn alongside Japan, Tunisia and Belgium in World Cup group H, were subjected to a chorus of boos and whistles as they left the pitch.

Russia coach Oleg Romantsev, famous for lashing out against journalists and not attending post-match news conferences, was missing once again, sending his assistant Sergei Pavlov instead.

"Of course, we're disappointed because we came here to test our players and also to win this tournament," Pavlov said. "We will talk to all our players before making a final decision on our World Cup squad, which we will announce on Tuesday."

Another player missing out will be Tunisia's Oussama Sellami, who was diagnosed with a broken toe on Sunday.

Germany are facing up to the prospect of being without young midfielder Sebastian Deisler, who sustained a knee injury in his side's 6-2 win over Austria on Saturday.

But one man's misfortune is another's gain -- Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas was handed Spain's number one jersey following the withdrawal of Santiago Canizares.

Canizares was ruled out of the tournament with a foot injury sustained in a freak accident, and Casillas, who appeared as a substitute in last week's Champions League final, now looks likely to be coach Jose Antonio Camacho's first choice keeper.

- REUTERS

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