Beckham pushes for England recall in front of watching Baldini

That was unfortunate because a brief conversation with the former England captain, who is hoping to be named this week in Fabio Capello's squad for the forthcoming friendly against France, would have revealed two important facts.

Not only is Beckham desperate to win his 100th cap in that game, and continue playing for his country beyond, but, at the age of 32, he is demonstrating great self-awareness when discussing his limitations.

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Beckham said: "It's not as if my game will ever change because people say the standard is different here in America.

"My game will always be the same, I've always been a player that has never gone past players but give me five yards I'll put the ball in where someone will want it.

"I've always said I always want to be available for my country, I don't want to let go of that and I still love passionately playing for my country, nothing is ever going to change that.

"I might be playing on the other side of the world but nothing will change the passion.

"I don't know how much longer I can play for England. It's obviously down to other people to decide that but it can come from the way I'm feeling and I always want to be available."

Certainly, Beckham's passing and set-piece delivery were international calibre and one superb pass late in the 0-0 friendly draw in Dallas landed on team-mate Landon Donovan's boot from 45 yards and allowed the US international to produce a chip well saved by keeper Dario Sala.

Otherwise, Beckham's fitness looked perfectly adequate and he showed his strong competitive streak, picking up a booking for arguing with a linesman in the 86th minute, an incident which led to him exchanging words and squaring up with Brazilian Andre Rocha.

There were even signs that MLS fans are becoming more like their European counterparts with Beckham booed by sections of fans, not only because of his booking but also because he missed last season's league game in Dallas through injury.

Beckham joked: "It was a nice game on a great pitch with nice fans – well the majority were! I got a bit of stick from some of them but that's normal.

"People are always sceptical about me moving to MLS when I'm still pretty young but I always said I saw it as a move to a league and a country that is going somewhere in soccer and I want to be part of that.

"I'm proud to be part of that and I wanted to be here when I can still perform at a high level, when I'm still young enough to perform at a high level."

Baldini must now help Capello decide whether Beckham can still play at the highest level of all although Dallas boss and ex-Arsenal star Steve Morrow has no doubts he is physically able to play for England this month.

Morrow said: "I saw no problem at all. He played a full 90 minutes and still looked fit and strong at the end of the game. I'm sure he still has a lot to contribute to the England team."