Police hold 50 before Munich game

England soccer captain David Beckham, left, relaxes on Friday during a practice session with teammate Gary Neville

LONDON, England -- British police have arrested 48 suspected soccer hooligans on their way to Saturday's England-Germany match in Munich.

Kent police said 20 fans had been stopped on the south coast, at the port of Dover and at the nearby Channel Tunnel terminal.

They were due to appear in court on Friday to determine if they will be banned from travelling under a law that gives authorities the power to prevent known soccer hooligans from going to matches abroad.

Two fans were banned on Thursday from attending the World Cup match after police stopped 12 men at airports and ports.

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Officers stopped eight men at Stansted airport north of London and a further three at Harwich port, east of London. Another nine men were stopped at Birmingham airport in central England and three were stopped at Manchester Airport.

Police applied for banning orders under the Football (Disorder) Act, which was brought in last year after England fans were involved in violent clashes at the Euro 2000 soccer championship in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In June more than 450 suspected English football hooligans were stopped from travelling to Greece for a World Cup clash.

Meanwhile, England coach Sven Goran Eriksson has underlined David Beckham's importance to England ahead of Saturday's World Cup clash in Germany.

The England captain trained with the rest of the squad in Munich's Olympiastadion on Friday morning, and although Eriksson was certain the midfielder would start no decision will be made until Saturday morning.

"I think he will play but we will have to wait until tomorrow morning to see if there is a reaction," said Eriksson. "It's extremely important that David plays tomorrow. I don't know where you can find another right foot.

"You probably can't - passing, shooting, crosses, free-kicks and not only that he works hard and he is our captain and its extremely important that he's on the pitch from the start."