Sep 3, 2010, 9:14 GMT
Washington - David Beckham hopes to return to football from a ruptured Achilles tendon on September 11 for his United States club Los Angeles Galaxy.
The former England captain Beckham, 35, told the Galaxy website late Thursday he aims to play a role on the day's Major League Soccer match against Colombus Crew.
Doctors had originally set his comeback for around October 1.
'I'll keep my fingers crossed and hopefully will play in part of the game here against Columbus. I'll be on the bench, and hopefully I'll get on the field for 15-20 minutes. That9s what I'm looking at,' Beckham said.
Beckham sustained the grave injury on March 14 while on loan at AC Milan. He missed playing in a fourth World Cup in South Africa as he underwent a long rehabilitation process before returning to full Galaxy training on August 11.
Beckham said there is still a lot of work to do. He rated his fitness level as in 'pre-season' and named matches the way to be 100 per cent again.
'At the moment, you have good days and you have bad days. You wake up with a lot more pain in your body when you're in pre-season. I have to do it because I need to get as close to match fitness as possible,' Beckham said.
'It's a bit difficult because when you don't play in games; that's where you get the real fitness from. But I'm doing what I can in the gym and what I can on the field, just trying to get strength back in my leg.'
Beckham named the long absence frustrating but that he never wasted a thought on retirement, despite his age.
'It's probably better asking my wife that more than me. Being around the house, not being able to train, not being able to play, I think it's been worse for her than me. It's been a long road.
'When you first have an injury like this and realize how serious an injury it is, you worry that you're not going to get back to playing top flight soccer. But that probably was in my head for only about 10 seconds,' he said.
While the midfielder will try to make his presence felt in the MLS, where the Galaxy are the best team so far in the season, a further England career remains uncertain for the 115-times capped Beckham.
Manager Fabio Capello said after the World Cup that he would no longer invite Beckham, but has now suggested that the door could be open for him if he is fit and on form.
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