England boost as Beckham trains

David Beckham today trained with the rest of the England squad for the first time since breaking his foot seven weeks ago.

The England captain had previously worked out on his own with physios Gary Lewin and Alan Smith.

But he led the squad on a lap of the training ground and then took part with his team-mates in a one-touch session.

Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had earlier confirmed that Beckham was now set to play in Sunday’s World Cup opener against Sweden providing he did not suffer an adverse reaction.

It was the first time that Eriksson had all his players available to train at something approaching full capacity since the squad met up nearly two and a half weeks ago to start preparations for the finals.

Goalkeeper David Seaman and full-back Ashley Cole, who had missed Sunday’s friendly against Cameroon in Kobe, were also able to go through their paces after recovering from groin and trained knee ligament problems respectively.