LONDON — David Beckham has made his trans-Atlantic commute to play for England against Germany at Wembley on Wednesday.
It looks like Steven Gerrard won't make it from Liverpool and Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves from Manchester, however.
The England-Germany match is the pick of Wednesday's friendlies, while European Championship qualifying also resumes with six group matches.
Now playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Beckham will have to get used to some long distance travel if he is to keep his place on the national team. After playing 90 minutes in the Galaxy's 5-4 loss to New York on Saturday, the former England captain hopes to play for the 97th time for his country against the Germans.
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"I was surprised to actually play 90 minutes," Beckham said. "The manager and the coaching staff kept asking me if I wanted to come off. But I'm quite a stubborn person on and off the field.
"My ankle took a pounding obviously. I'm not used to this (artificial) surface but it wasn't bad. There were a couple instances where I rolled over on my ankle but we have to play on this surface. My ankle is more swollen than it was before the game but I'm sure it'll be fine for the game on Wednesday."
Beckham, who has been carrying the left ankle injury since playing for England in a Euro 2008 match at Estonia on June 6, hopes to play some part of the game against the Germans and then fly back to the United States to face Chivas USA in an MLS game the following day.
"I'd like to play some part in the game on Wednesday and then, flying back, hopefully get some rest and play some part in the Chivas game," Beckham said. "I think it's important for me to get back and be at the game and hopefully play some part in the game."
While Beckham could face the Germans, England fans may miss out on seeing Gerrard and Hargreaves.
Although Gerrard played 90 minutes of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Chelsea with a broken toe, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has asked England coach Steve McClaren not to field him on Wednesday so that his captain can rest the injury.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson also wants McClaren to leave Hargreaves, who moved to the Red Devils from Bayern Munich, out of the lineup against the Germans. Hargreaves has recently recovered from a knee injury and Ferguson said the joint was swollen after Sunday's 1-0 loss at Manchester City.
With Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville, Wayne Bridge, Jonathan Woodgate, Aaron Lennon, Ledley King and Michael Dawson also missing and John Terry and Michael Owen only just back from long term injuries, McClaren will field a weakened lineup against the Germans, who also have several players sidelined.
Germany coach Joachim Loew already had Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings and Mario Gomez sidelined when Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira also pulled out of the squad.
But Loew said that won't stop his team from going all out to beat England.
"We are not going to hide, despite the many injuries," said Loew, who added his team would also raise its game playing in the rebuilt Wembley.
Germany beat England 1-0 in the final game to be played at the old Wembley in Oct. 2000.
"We are going to be missing experience, routine and leadership," Loew said. "Those missing are not easy to replace. It would have been good if we had the best possible team for this game, but we are not going to complain. It's a joy to be playing in this stadium."
Among the other powerhouse teams playing friendlies on Wednesday, Brazil goes to the French city of Montpellier to face Algeria. Ronaldinho and Kaka are back on the Brazilian squad after missing the team's triumph in the Copa America last month.
David Trezeguet returns to the France squad for a game at Slovakia, and Ruud van Nistelrooy has been recalled by Netherlands coach Marco van Basten since they fell out at last year's World Cup. The Dutch play Switzerland in Geneva.
Striker Luca Toni is back for Italy's game against Hungary in Budapest and United States coach Bob Bradley has called up 16 European-based players in his squad of 19 for a friendly against Sweden in Goteborg.
In Euro 2008 qualifiers, Serbia and Portugal aim to make up ground on Group A leader Poland, which leads them both by five points but has played two games more.
Serbia goes to fifth-place Belgium but may have striker Nikola Zigic missing with an ankle injury. Although suspended for three games for Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo will be back for Portugal in Armenia but Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho is injured.
Finland is also five points behind Poland but with only one game in hand. Mikael Forssell is a doubtful starter for the game against visiting Kazakhstan.
In Group F, third-place Northern Ireland hopes to stay in contention for one of the two qualifying spots by beating visiting Liechtenstein. Sweden leads the group with 18 points, followed by Spain with 15 and Northern Ireland with 13 and a game in hand on both.
