Beckham left stranded on 99 not out as Capello leaves him out of England squad - but only for now

New coach Fabio Capello informed the 32-year-old of the decision in a phone call last night, citing a lack of match fitness as his chief reason.

The England midfielder was said to be disappointed but accepted Capello's argument that other players performing regularly in the Premier League had stronger claims for a place in his 30-man preliminary squad.

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Beckham will attend a charity function at the Dorchester hotel tonight before flying back to the United States to begin pre-season training with LA Galaxy on Monday.

In a lengthy conversation, Capello said that the international door has not been slammed shut on Beckham for good and that, should he be playing regularly in the future and be fully match fit, then he would still be considered.

Beckham, who had been training five days a week for the last month with Arsenal in a bid to prove his fitness, stills hold out hope of winning the 100th cap in March when England meet France in Paris or in May when they play at least two more friendly matches.

The former Manchester United star halted his training regime to fly first to Africa and then Brazil over the past week, as Capello considered his first squad, but it is understood that neither trip affected the Italian's decision. Beckham first went to Africa for a two-day UNICEF tour and then travelled on to Brazil to promote his soccer school there.

It is not the first time that Capello has decided to omit Beckham from his team. The hard-line Italian made a similar call when the pair were together at Real Madrid.

Beckham's decision to return immediately to the United States has avoided a potentially embarrassing situation next week. England currently train at Arsenal's London Colney headquarters and Beckham would have been on an adjoining pitch to Capello and his squad.

Today's decision underlines Capello's reputation as a football pragmatist rather than a romantic.

It would have been easy to have handed Beckham what he wanted in what would have been an emotional night at Wembley next Wednesday.

But Beckham has not played a competitive match since coming on as a half-time substitute in England's 3-2 defeat against Croatia in November. His last club game was for LA Galaxy against Chicago Fire on 21 October.

Beckham's absence, though, provides a big opportunity for others, namely Chelsea's Shaun Wright-Phillips or Blackburn's David Bentley.

Ashley Cole is also expected to make the preliminary squad, which will be narrowed down to 22 on Saturday, but is doubtful to start after failing to make the bench for Chelsea last night.