David Beckham Set to Join the 100 Club, Kristine Lilly Not Too Worried

As half-expected, David Beckham was named in Fabio Capello’s England 30-man England squad for the game against France next Wednesday. And if Becks plays (and it doesn’t seem likely Capello would jerk the guy around my naming him to the squad and then letting him rot on the bench, does it?) he’ll make his 100th appearance for England.

It’s a semi-exclusive club with just four other England players in it right now:

Peter Shilton 125 caps
Bobby Moore 108 caps
Bobby Charlton 106 caps
Billy Wright 105 caps

It’s open to debate whether Beckham the footballer is in the same class as those four men. But as a servant to his country it’s hard to argue. In an era where so many players retire from international duty early, or pull out of inconvenient friendlies (this means you Paul Scholes, on both counts) it’s refreshing to see someone like Beckham so genuinely keen to pull on an England shirt at every opportunity.

Still, he’s got a long way to go to catch Mohamed Al-Deayea and his 181 caps for Saudi Arabia, not to mention Kristine Lilly and her mind-boggling 340 caps for the US WNT.