Capello says super-sub 'Becks' ready for SA

LONDON: Fabio Capello has dropped the strongest hint yet that David Beckham will be on the plane to South Africa for next year's World Cup finals.

Beckham was only on the pitch for the last half hour of England's final qualifier, a 3-0 win over Belarus at Wembley which made it nine wins out of ten for Capello's squad in Group 6.

But he made enough of an impression to collect the man-of-the-match award, prompting Capello to compare him to Barack Obama, who picked up the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month after just more than nine months in office.