Beckham, Owen likely to miss England's Germany friendly

LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) Long-time England team mates David Beckham and Michael Owen appear to have little chance of facing old rivals Germany in a friendly at Wembley this month because of injury.

Striker Owen was still recovering from a thigh injury and would probably miss Newcastle United's opening game of the Premier League season next weekend, manager Sam Allardyce said.

''The tear in the muscle hasn't healed as quickly as we would like,'' Allardyce was quoted as saying in the Daily Mail newspaper today.

Beckham, recovering from an ankle injury, had yet to make his competitive debut for LA Galaxy in the MLS although he was travelling to Toronto for their game tomorrow, head coach Frank Yallop told www.la.galaxy.mlsnet.com.

England meet Germany at the new Wembley Stadium on Aug. 22 to warm-up for next month's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia.

Yallop was quoted in the British daily The Sun yesterday as saying that playing for England was far from former captain Beckham's mind as he looked to kickstart his new US career.

''I don't think he is worrying about England at the moment... He wants to get fit and start playing for us,'' Yallop said.

Asked if Beckham could be fit for England in less than three weeks, Yallop added: ''He has not been in full training yet so it could be a lot to ask.'' Beckham has played only 10 minutes for his new club, in a recent friendly against Chelsea, since joining them from Real Madrid.

Owen has had a frustrating time with injury since joining Newcastle from Real Madrid in 2005, making only 14 appearances for the club, just three last season.

REUTERS BJR HS1630