Beckham is given all-clear for Turkey
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Your support makes all the difference.David Beckham has been cleared by Real Madrid's club doctor, Juan Carlos Hernandez, to play against Turkey next Saturday.
Fears over the England captain's foot injury were allayed yesterday after he resumed training with his team-mates at their Laz Rozas base. Hernandez confirmed that the midfielder should be on the plane to Istanbul, and believes Beckham could even make the Spanish champions' home match against Espanyol tomorrow.
Wearing a strap on his right foot, Beckham began tentatively in the warm-up, before hammering a shot into the back of one of the goals on the training pitch. He then led the players in a light jog around the pitch and took full part in the remaining hour-and-a-half session.
"He's almost certain to be fit for England," Hernandez said. "Beckham asked if he will be able to play and I said he'll be fine. There are no worries at all. It still hurts a bit when you touch his foot and he's training with a bandage on, and with that he's OK."
Senol Gunes yesterday added Besiktas' Sergen Yalcin, Ilhan Mansiz and Emre Asik to Turkey's squad to play England. Yalcin scored twice in five minutes to lead Besiktas to a 2-0 Champions' League win over Chelsea on Wednesday.
Turkey Squad: (v England, Group Seven European Championship qualifier, Istanbul, 11 October): Goalkeepers: Recber (Barcelona), Catkic (Gaziantepspor), Ozgultekin (Ankaragucu). Defenders: Korkmaz (Galatasaray), Alpay (Aston Villa), Fatih Akyel (Fenerbahce), Baris (Genclerbirligi), Asik (Besiktas). Midfielders: Emre Belozoglu, Okan (both Inter Milan), Tugay (Blackburn), Ergun Penbe (Galatasaray), Sergen Yalcin, Ibrahim Uzulmez (both Besiktas), Gokdeniz Karadeniz (Trabzonspor), Tayfun Korkut (Espanyol), Umit Davala (Werder Bremen), Basturk (Bayer Leverkusen). Forwards: Hakan Sukur, Hasan Sas (both Galatasaray), Nihat (Real Sociedad), Tuncay Sanli (Fenerbahce), Ilhan (Besiktas).
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