Beckham fit as English prepare for crunch time

David Beckham is confident he will be fit to play in England's Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia today.

The England captain missed training on Thursday because of a groin injury he picked up in a Spanish league match earlier this week, but he said the problem has responded well to treatment and he should recover in time for the crucial Group 7 game in Skopje.

"Today is the first time I've trained. We'll see how it goes, but it's feeling good and hopefully it'll go well," he told reporters. "I think I only tweaked the muscle, but you have to be 100 percent fit to play in these games."

England has to win in Skopje, then beat Liechtenstein to likely play for Group 7's top spot and automatic qualifying berth on Oct. 11 against present leader Turkey. England trails Turkey by two points.

"We're not underestimating Macedonia. They have been unlucky in a few games," Beckham said.

A stumble against Macedonia, which held Sven-Goran Eriksson's side to a 2-2 draw last October at Southampton, would probably end England's chances of direct qualification.

Beckham was confident England fans who do get into the ground despite warnings about traveling will behave themselves.

The English FA has requested England supporters don't travel to Skopje for the match. No tickets have been taken by the FA.

Fearing clashes between local and visiting fans, match organizers sought to discourage English fans from traveling to Skopje. About 2,000 tickets originally allotted for the visitors were given to the British embassy which, however, donated them to local charities and humanitarian organizations.

Nevertheless, some English fans were expected to arrive individually, without any of the usual logistic support or tickets reserved for them.

Eriksson will be without the injured Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Darius Vassell, Jonathan Woodgate and Trevor Sinclair in Skopje, and he's expected to field a young side that includes only four players with 30 or more caps.

Ferdinand's absence leaves John Terry in the frame to partner Sol Campbell in central defense.

In midfield the likely candidates to replace Scholes and Gerrard are Frank Lampard and Owen Hargreaves. Nicky Butt also is a midfield candidate.

In attack, 17-year-old Wayne Rooney is expected to partner Michael Owen, who has scored 23 goals in his 51 caps.