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Beckham fit to play title decider

June 17, 2007 18:02 IST
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David Beckham has shaken off a niggling ankle injury and will be fit to play his final match for Real Madrid in Sunday's title decider against Real Mallorca.

"I spoke with him after training and he said that he felt very good and would have no problems in playing," Real coach Fabio Capello told a news conference on Saturday.

The Italian, who sidelined Beckham for a month after the midfielder announced he would be joining LA Galaxy at the end of the season, paid tribute to the 32-year-old when asked about his contribution to Real's late-season revival.

"I think Beckham has been a very important player and in the last three months he has recovered the psychological and physical condition that was missing before," he said.

"I would put him up amongst the best players I've ever coached."

Beckham suffered a recurrence of an injury to his left ankle during last Saturday's 2-2 draw at Real Zaragoza and had trained on his own for the majority of this week.

But he joined in with the rest of the team in Saturday's final training session and gave the thumbs up to reporters when asked if he would be ready to play at the Bernabeu.

Beckham, who will hook up with the Galaxy in July, will win his first significant trophy since joining Real from Manchester United in 2003 if they beat the islanders on Sunday.

Midfielder Mahamadou Diarra also trained with the team after being given permission by FIFA to return from international duty with Mali ahead of their African Nations Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone.

Arch-rivals Barcelona, who could still win the title if Real slip up against Mallorca, will be missing left back Silvinho, midfielder Edmilson and striker Eidur Gudjohnsen for their final game at Gimnastic Tarragona.

Sevilla, who also have an outside chance of winning the league, will be without six first-choice players including wingers Jesus Navas and Adriano Correia and defender Daniel Alves for their match at home to Villarreal.

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Source: REUTERS
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