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Wednesday, May 28

David Beckham received his 100th cap award tonight, just prior to his 101st appearance for England, a start against the USA in an international friendly held at Wembley. 

In a special ceremony just before the match and the national anthems, Sir Bobby Charlton presented him with the special golden cap encased as seen here.  Beckham is only one of five men in England's history to represent their senior team as many as 100 times;  Charlton himself has 106 caps.

Beckham said of the honor: "I was proud to get the 100th cap and it was also a proud moment to receive something like that from Sir Bobby Charlton."

Beginning his second century tonight, Becks assisted with power, feeding the ball to John Terry in the 38th minute for the first England goal.  Steven Gerrard later made another, to end the night in a 2-0 victory over the USA.

England has only friendlies to be concerned with at the moment, as they did not make the cut for this next month's European Championships.  However, for the USA, this was a fine test and warmup for their 2010 World Cup Qualifiers, which begin June 15.

For Beckham, a chance to play at home tonight - and to participate in the match in an important way - was yet another confirmation of Fabio Capello's commitment to include Becks on the roster appropriately for as long as he is healthy.  Capello himself has already stated publicly that he would like to see Beckham on the roster for the 2010 World Cup, and if this were to happen, there is a chance he could become the all-time caps leader for England.

Although that World Cup finals tournament in South Africa is a full two years away, for now it certainly looks like David Beckham is well on his way...one great step at a time !