David Beckham was closer to achieving his dream of playing in another World Cup by starting and finishing his first competitive match for England since 2007 in Wednesday's 6-0 rout of Andorra in a qualifier.

A 112th England appearance at the age of 34 will raise Beckham's hopes of making the finals in South Africa next year, assuming his team qualifies, and of potentially breaking the national all-time record of 125 caps held by retired goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

Beckham has 17 goals in his 13-year England career, but he is yet to score at England's national stadium - the old or the rebuilt Wembley. The crowd shouted "shoot, shoot" in the dying moments on Wednesday, hoping to be there for his first Wembley goal.

"It's obviously missing, but I don't care," Beckham said. "At the end of the day, I'm happy with being in this team. I'm happy with performing in this team and playing with these players because it's a great team and a great squad to be around at the moment. Whether I score or not at Wembley, we'll see. As long as we carry on winning, I don't care."

(AP via China Daily June 12, 2009)