England captain David Beckham will not be able to watch their final World Cup qualifier against Poland on Wednesday after being called back to Spain for training with his club Real Madrid.
Beckham is suspended for the Group Six game after being sent off in Saturday's 1-0 win over Austria, which helped England to qualify for next year's finals.
The midfielder, who trained with the squad on Tuesday at the Carrington complex of his former club Manchester United, had planned to be a spectator at Old Trafford.
"We have received a formal request from Real Madrid advising us they require David Beckham to travel back to Spain for training tomorrow," the Football Association said in a statement.
The request followed a conversation between Real Madrid's director of football Arrigo Sacchi and England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Beckham has been in inspired form recently with Real, helping the nine-times European champions to turn around a poor start to their Primera Liga and Champions League campaigns.
A Real statement on the club website said: "Despite the fact that David Beckham wanted to remain with the national side to urge on his team mates for the match against Poland, Real Madrid have ordered the English player to rejoin his club, given that he cannot play in the match."
Spain defender Michel Salgado and Denmark midfielder Thomas Gravesen, who are also suspended for their countries' final qualifiers, have returned from international duty and will train with the team on Wednesday to prepare for this weekend's city derby against Atletico Madrid.
