David Beckham will make his 100th appearance for England today against France. Only four men have ever reached 100 appearances for England previously. There has been a rumor swirling around that he may or may not play today due to a groin injury sending fans in a fury, and fortunately there was no real injury.

Fabio Capello, England’s coach said yesterday that Beckham will play part of the game at Stade de France; however he hasn’t decided if the midfielder will start. Beckham didn’t play in Capello’s first match against Switzerland last month because the coach felt he wasn’t fit enough during the Major League Soccer off-season.

There is speculation that Beckham, who has regained full fitness ahead of start of the MLS season, may be on the bench but Capello won’t announce his lineup, even to the players.

“I know David Beckham and what he can give me and I think he can make the difference in some respects,” Capello said. “I know what he can give to a team. As for the future, we will have to see.”

History tells us that to write Beckham off is never a smart thing to do. Time and time again, he has proven himself to bounce back at what ever comes his way.

Being a North American I sometimes forget the phenomena of European football. After watching this video I first wanted to go out and buy a soccer ball and start playing and second I wanted to find a game schedule and start watching. This is truly amazing!

Sol Campbell is the latest victim of his age. Sol has not only been smarting from a voice mail message left by Steve McClaren informing him of his omission from the England squad; but he’s been openly critical about the lack of “30-somethings”, such as David Beckham, whose names are also missing from England’s team sheet. This begs the question: is the world’s most famous soccer superstar too old to be playing professional sports? Me thinks hogwash.

Beckham may be too old to date Hilary Duff (according to her, not according to Becks) but there are loads of players who are in their prime in their 30s. After all isn’t it when we are in our 30s that our brains finally catch up with our bodies? Granted there is a fine line, a grey area we can call it, when our noggins are ticking at optimal capacity and our body has not yet started its decent into the grave. Whether Beckham is there yet or has surpassed this fine line is up for debate.
If you were to wager a bet according to Becks himself though you might want to count the old fuddy duddy out. Here’s what he had to say about his age: “I find it harder to get out of bed in the morning. It could be because I’m getting older, or it could be because I’ve got three sons.
“For a woman, I think 30 is one of the best ages - for a man, they say it’s all downhill from there.
“You start putting on weight and getting lumps and bumps in places you didn’t have them when you were 20.”
Bye bye David.

The EPL hasn’t been lacking for storylines this year. No doubt we’ll see some dramatics on Sunday when Portsmouth hosts Manchester City in a battle of Top 5 teams. Man City (+275) have just one win, one draw and three losses on the road, but
Portsmouth (-105) are not getting much of a home-pitch advantage this year, with two wins and three draws in five contests. A fourth draw would pay +225.

In another top-flight match, rejuvenated Chelsea host Everton in a battle of the Blues. Chelsea’s recent form under new manager Avram Grant (five clean sheets in five EPL games) has the Pensioners pegged at –300, with the Toffees at +850 and the draw at +340. But Chelsea keeper Petr Cech is out after suffering a torn calf muscle during a listless 0-0 Champions League saw-off at Schalke. That effort won’t do Sunday at Stamford Bridge versus an Everton side that has won four in a row.

Euro 2008 qualifying took soccer’s center stage over the weekend. If you had France over the Faroe Islands on Saturday, good for you. Things will be a little more difficult for The Blues on Wednesday when they face Lithuania, but not much; France is still a –1400 chalk.

A much more spirited game can be expected when England travels to Russia. In something out of a Cold War novel, the Russians are participating in what Scotland striker Garry O’Connor called “psychological warfare.” This match will be played at Luzhniki Stadium on FieldTurf, an uncommon surface to most European players.

“Frankly, I don’t think FIFA should allow qualifying matches to be played on that surface,” O’Connor wrote in the Sunday Telegraph. He also warned England that the Russians will flood the pitch before the match. As long as they don’t flood it with polonium. England is pegged at +125, Russia +190 and the draw at +220.