Eriksson: I'll take Beckham to Cup

Beckham's agony was shared across England as he was stretchered off

LONDON, England -- England coach Sven Goran Eriksson says he will take David Beckham to the World Cup even if he has only a small chance of playing.

"He's extremely important as a captain, and one of the best players in the world today. If it's only a small chance that he can play, you should take it," Eriksson told a news conference in London.

The saga of Beckham's broken foot continued to grip England's news media on Friday. On Thursday Prime Minister Tony Blair even raised the issue at a cabinet meeting, aides said.

Beckham broke a bone in his left foot as Manchester United beat Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old joins a list of injured stars struggling to make the World Cup, including French winger Robert Pires, veteran Italian striker Roberto Baggio and Brazilian Ronaldo.

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Eriksson was optimistic that Beckham would be fit at least for the final stages of the tournament in Japan and South Korea.

"Of course I'm worried, reading the papers, listening to the radio, watching the TV, the whole country seems to be worried," the England coach said.

"But it's a thing that you can't do anything about. We have to wait and see. You have to hope, and be positive. I hope he is going to be all right and I think so."

Eriksson said he spoke to Beckham on Wednesday night after the injury, adding: "He was optimistic, though I didn't ask him if he would be fit, and he didn't say, it was just a couple of hours after it happened. I will talk to him again today."

Sources at Manchester United were also upbeat at Beckham's chances of playing.

Beckham's injury has been England's big news story for two days

Despite an initial prognosis that he may be ruled out for up to eight weeks with a broken bone in his foot, staff at Old Trafford said that the midfielder could be back in full training in six weeks.

If Beckham did recover in six weeks, that would give him a chance of being fit for England's opening World Cup game against Sweden in Japan on June 2.

Even if he requires more time, he could still return for the other group games against Argentina or Nigeria, the UK's Press Association reported.

The situation will not become entirely clear, PA said, until his plaster cast has been removed, while there is always the possibility of a complication or recurrence.

Barring a setback, PA said, the midfielder will be named by Eriksson in his outline 23-man squad on May 7 or 9, with another midfielder placed on stand-by.

Eriksson will then await further medical updates before naming his final party on May 21 -- the official cut-off date -- with the chances also being that Beckham will still be included, PA reported.

England was still mesmerised by Beckham's injury on Friday and, for a second day, his foot swept the Middle East crisis off tabloid front pages.

"The Foot -- A Nation Holds its Breath," said the Daily Mirror.

Alongside the headline "Beck Us Pray", the UK's biggest-selling daily, The Sun, carried a large photo of Beckham's left leg and invited its millions of readers to rub the picture in an attempt at mass faith-healing.

"Lay your hands on David's foot at noon and make it better," said the tabloid, saying it had the support of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham and two Church of England bishops.

The Times of London also carried the news on the front page saying: "Forget the Middle East. And who cares about next week's Budget? The one issue that had Tony Blair and his ministers on tenterhooks at yesterday's Cabinet meeting was David Beckham's foot."

The official spokesman to the British PM had reported that at a Cabinet session otherwise dominated by next week's Budget and the Middle East, Blair had broken off to tell colleagues that "nothing was more important" to England's World Cup preparations than the state of Beckham's foot.