Beckham too old to play for England?

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Beckham, who began his career at Manchester United in 1992, made his England debut against Moldova in September 1996. The low point of his international career came at his first World Cup, in 1998, when he was sent off for petulantly kicking out at Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone.

England lost the round of 16 match and some England fans hung effigies of Beckham. Beckham managed to bounce back and captained the team at the 2002 World Cup under coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. (AP Photo)

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Beckham tearfully relinquished the England captaincy after the 2006 tournament, when England reached the quarterfinals for the second straight time. He was then dropped by Coach Steve McClaren, but was restored as England's qualifying campaign for the 2008 European Championship faltered. McClaren was fired in November 2008 after England failed to reach Euro 2008.

Real Madrid's David Beckham, right, walks past the team's then coach Fabio Capello during a training session in Madrid, in this Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo)

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Despite initially falling out of favor under Capello before being restored to the team when both were at Real Madrid, Beckham's international career survived when the Italian took over as coach from McClaren. (AP Photo)

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Beckham often only appeared as a late substitute but played a role in 16 of the 21 matches under Capello before he was injured three months before the World Cup in South Africa. (AP Photo)

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Because of his influence in the camp, Beckham was taken to the World Cup in a non-playing role by Capello. He wasn't there in an official coaching role despite often appearing on the training field and at matches (AP Photo