England manager Steve McClaren said David Beckham was ready to play for England against Germany today despite a recent ankle injury and a long-haul flight from the US.
"He trained this morning and looked very good," McClaren said in a news conference yesterday.
The friendly at Wembley is preparation for England's Euro 2008 qualifiers at home to group rivals Israel and Russia next month and McClaren said he was happy to have Beckham, now with LA Galaxy, back in the squad with him set to win his 97th cap.
"We've said right from the beginning he's back in the squad because of his performances, he'll stay in the squad because of his performances and he'll play because of his performances and that's it," said McClaren, who axed the former captain from the squad after the 2006 World Cup finals.
McClaren has already had to contend with several withdrawals, including midfielders Steven Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves, while Everton striker Andy Johnson pulled out yesterday with a knee injury.
Wayne Rooney is missing with a broken foot while Peter Crouch is suspended for the match against Israel and so would be unlikely to start.
Michael Owen, who came on as a substitute for Newcastle on Saturday, will feature, with Jermain Defoe and Alan Smith also likely to play at some stage.
"It's an ideal game for him to get some minutes under his belt," said McClaren, who confirmed that no Premier League managers had set any limits on the amount of time their players should spend on the pitch.
Defeat in Croatia last year and draws against Israel and Macedonia have left England fourth in Group E, three points behind Croatia and Israel and one behind Russia.
They play Israel on September 8 and host Russia four days later.
England have only met a unified Germany nine times in international football, the last occasion being in 2001 when England won a World Cup qualifier 5-1 in Munich.
They played West Germany on 16 occasions, the most famous meeting being the 1966 World Cup final and the rivalry makes any meeting, even a friendly, an eagerly-anticipated prospect.
The Germans beat England 1-0 in the last match played at the old Wembley in October 2000.
Experienced Italy
Luca Toni is returning from injury and expected to lead Italy's attack today in a friendly against Hungary.
Toni is one of eight players chosen by coach Roberto Donadoni from those who started the 2006 World Cup final against France.
Besides Toni, goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, defenders Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso, Marco Materazzi and Gianluca Zambrotta, and midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo are also part of the squad.
Donadoni is expected to field a 4-3-3 formation at the Ferenc Puskas Stadion. Toni will lead the front line, supported by Fabio Quagliarella and either Antonio Di Natale or Del Piero.
Toni won a penalty, scored a goal and set up another for new club Bayern Munich against Werder Bremen on Saturday. He has scored two goals in the Bundesliga already.
Italy are the third current or former world champions to visit Hungary in the past few years. The Magyars lost to Brazil 4-1 in 2004 and to Argentina 2-1 a year later. They've also played friendlies against Germany and England.
Hungary coach Peter Varhidi has led Hungary since late 2006, when he replaced Peter Bozsik after an embarrassing loss to Malta in a Euro 2008 qualifying match.
Varhidi has brought several younger players to the national team, but the results did not change.
Hungary lost their last two Euro 2008 qualifiers - to Norway 4-0 and to Greece 2-0 - and have no chance to make it to the continental tournament next year.