Beckham, Owen return to England squad





LONDON - Newcastle striker Michael Owen has backed former Real Madrid team-mate David Beckham's return to the England squad.

The pair, who spent a season together at the Santiago Bernabeu before Owen transfered to Newcastle, will play together for the first time since last year's World Cup in Saturday's friendly against Brazil.





England forward Michael Owen and midfielder David Beckham train with the England squad ahead of their international friendly soccer match against Brazil and Euro 2008 qualifier soccer match against Estonia, at London Colney in north London, Monday, May 28, 2007.[AP]



And while Owen has been away from England duty due to injury, Beckham's absence owed to manager Steve McClaren's desire to take the team in a new direction.



However, just like Fabio Capello at Real Madrid, McClaren has found he cannot do without the former England captain.



And, from a position where his career seemed to be ebbing away, Beckham is suddenly a central figure, both in Real's Primera Liga title drive and England's bid to reach the European Championships.



"You have to give David great credit for getting back into the Real Madrid side first of all," said Owen.



"He was not around the Madrid team for a couple of the months during the season and the manager said he might not play for the club again.



"But he has come back and produced some fantastic performances in recent weeks and been in great form. He certainly deserves his recall to the England squad."



The joint returns of Owen and Beckham offer an element of back to the future for England at the start of a week which will determine whether McClaren actually has one.



Owen has had to suffer in silence as England's woeful qualifying campaign unfolded, culminating in the fearful abuse McClaren suffered at the hands of his own fans in Barcelona as his team struggled to overcome the part-timers of Andorra in March.



"I felt for Steve and the players that night," said Owen. "It was almost an accumulation of things. A lot of people went into the game frustrated because we had not played too well in the games leading up to that.



"Everyone was poised really to let their frustrations go and, with things not going as planned on the night, tempers started to fray."



Now Owen is simply happy to be back in the fold and involved against Brazil, a match that strangely will be a mere side-show in comparison with Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualification trip to Estonia.



Having dropped points against Macedonia, Croatia and Israel already, and with an autumn double-header with Russia still to come, England have little margin for error in group E.



Against a side without a goal or a point, a further slip-up is unthinkable.



"It has not quite happened for us in a couple of games so far but we are still in a position where we can qualify," said Owen. "We have got plenty of home games to come and if we can win in Estonia, things will look a lot rosier for us."



England's preparations for their Tallinn expedition have hardly been helped by a catalogue of injuries which have ravaged their defence and left them short of strikers to partner Owen.



The indications are Alan Smith will be handed the job against Estonia but Owen may play a lone striking role Saturday in the first international match at the new Wembley.



"The two games are going to be totally different," added Owen. "Brazil are fantastic opponents and you could have no-one better to play against in the opening game at Wembley.



"But, if someone said we were going to lose Saturday and win on Wednesday, I would take that right now.



"In Tallinn, we will experience a hostile atmosphere against a team that will not just pull 11 men behind the ball, but 11 men into their final third.



"If you don't score early in matches like that, everyone can get a bit twitchy. But the fact is their players are not as good as ours. If we can get the first goal, I am sure we will have a good night."





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