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Beckham dropped from England squad
LONDON (AP) - David Beckham was dropped from the England soccer team Friday by new coach Steve McClaren.
Beckham, 31, stepped down as captain last month after limping off with ankle and Achilles tendon injuries during the second half of England's World Cup quarter-final loss to Portugal. The Real Madrid star said he still wanted to play for the national team.
McClaren didn't name him in the squad to play Greece in Wednesday's friendly - his first match in charge.
"I spoke to David last Monday and notified him of my decision and said that I was planning for the future, looking to change things, looking to the future and David wasn't included," McClaren said.
"At the present moment I am looking to take this team in a different direction," McClaren added. "It's a new beginning. It's a clean sheet of paper for everybody and that's why I decided not to pick David Beckham."
While his accuracy from dead balls is still sharp, Beckham has started to lose pace - highlighted when 19-year-old Aaron Lennon twice replaced him at the World Cup. It also marks a break from the reign of former coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who developed a close relationship with Beckham in his five years in charge.
McClaren was Eriksson's assistant from 2001.
"Having spoken to Steve McClaren this week I can fully understand that a new manager should want to make his mark on the team and build towards the next World Cup," Beckham said in a statement. "I'm proud to have played for England for 10 years and my passion for representing my country remains as strong as ever.
"I'd like to wish the best of luck to John Terry and will offer him my complete support in the future."
Beckham has 94 caps - he was captain for 58 of those - and has long said he'd like to reach 100. It's possible he could be recalled for England's 2008 European Championship qualifiers.
"I have great respect for him, fantastic captain for England, a great player and still is a great player and he took the news very well," McClaren added. "Although he was disappointed, I got the reaction I wanted and the reaction was that he would continue to fight for his place and I will never close to the door."
McClaren added Terry Venables, who coached England from 1994 until 1996, and Steve Round to his backroom staff. McClaren worked with Round at Middlesbrough.
In choosing a backup to striker Peter Crouch, McClaren named Jermain Defoe - who was on standby for the World Cup but was sent home - Charlton's Darren Bent and West Ham's Dean Ashton, who was given his first England callup.
Wayne Rooney was left out because he is suspended from England's first two Euro 2008 qualifiers for the red card he was shown against Portugal, while Michael Owen is recovering from a serious knee injury he got at the World Cup.
McClaren wasn't able to pick a number of other players because of injury, including midfielders Michael Carrick and Joe Cole, backup goalkeeper Robert Green and defender Ledley King.
Calgary-raised midfielder Owen Hargreaves, one of England's bright lights at the World Cup, was included.
Nine players from the World Cup squad were omitted, including 17-year-old Theo Walcott. Eriksson's decision to take the striker to Germany before he'd played for his English Premier League club Arsenal was widely criticized.
With Owen injured and Rooney not at full fitness, Walcott stayed on the bench throughout the World Cup.
Walcott, Nigel Reo-Coker and Scott Carson were named in the under-21 squad to play to Moldova on Tuesday.
Goalkeeper David James and defender Sol Campbell were other high-profile World Cup squad members to miss out.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/11082006...tant-coach.html
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...I hope you're not basing that on his last world cup performance.
