David Beckham - file

LONDON (AP)

Fabio Capello has told David Beckham he must wait for the chance to play his 100th match for England.

Capello left Beckham out of his first squad as England coach yesterday when he named a provisional group of 30 players for next Wednesday's friendly against Switzerland at Wembley.

After a month watching Premier League and domestic cup matches to assess the talent available to him, Capello picked the untried Gabriel Agbonlahor and Curtis Davies and another nine players with fewer than 10 appearances each.

But the Italian coach stressed that the emphasis on youth does not necessarily end Beckham's international career.

Capello said he planned to give the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder another chance if the former captain shows good form when Major League Soccer restarts in late March.

''I know there has been a lot of discussion about David Beckham,'' Capello said. ''The reason that David is not in the squad is because he has not had any real match practice since playing in November.

''When I spoke with David on the phone yesterday, I advised him that he is still part of my plans and once he is playing regularly in America we will look closely at him again.''

Contenders

Capello instead chose Chelsea's Shaun Wright-Phillips and Black-burn's David Bentley as contenders for Beckham's role on the right of midfield, although one could miss out when the coach trims the roster to a final 23 tomorrow.

The 32-year-old Beckham is desperate to follow Peter Shilton, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright to a century of England caps and has been training with Arsenal to keep fit.

Capello did not say who would be captain for Wednesday's game.