Ian Bell, columnist of the year

Last week one newspaper website, patriotic to a fault, was inviting its readers to answer a question. "Beckham," it asked, with the slight hint that a pejorative response might be expected, "just in it for the England caps?"

There was I thinking the Golden One might be in it for the money of which he is, famously, so short. Or perhaps he hungers for the instant public recognition that has so long been denied. Possibly, after wasting his time with the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, he feels the need for some glamour in his life.

You had to admire the phrasing, though. "Just" in it for the caps, as though - contrary to any chatter you may have heard from the Rangers subs' bench - playing for one's country is a mere whim. Those who are not in it for the silly headgear tend not to have been picked. It is not an option you exercise at will.

David Beckham could have packed it all in more than once and no-one would have thought the worse (or better) of him. He might have chucked it, and most would have, when Steve McClaren tried to flaunt his managerial cojones by making a scapegoat of the former England captain. Beckham might even have elected to spend more time with his image rights after he and Fabio Capello got off to a bad start at Madrid.

He does not give up so easily. The signs are that he does not give up at all. After the world was done admiring his ability to part LA Galaxy from daft sums of money, most agreed that Beckham's England days were over. When Capello arrived to knock the squad into shape the issue of match fitness, quite rightly, became an issue. Did someone signed to MLS still have it?

Yet now we hear of an unforgiving coach gushing admiration for a "consummate professional" and, what's more, brokering a deal that should see Beckham turn out for AC Milan during the winter months when his Californian colleagues are topping up their tans. Bobby Moore's outfield international record of 108 caps is in sight. Germany, appropriately enough, will provide the opposition.

Strangely, however, this has not provided an excuse for universal celebrations south of the border. The fact that Capello is no fool appears not to count. A lack of stupidity on the part of Milan's Carlo Ancelotti is discounted, as is Beckham's sheer dedication. Some are carping.

It is too easy for a modern player to pick up caps, they say. So how many of Beckham's contemporaries can count up to 107? He is being honoured, they tell you, on the basis of five and 10 minute appearances, not like Moore or Billy Wright in the days before substitutes. Was either always worth a game, towards the end? In any case, comes the clincher, Beckham is past it. True, but in a strange way he always was.

The late George Best turned it into one of his better jokes.

Beckham? Can't run, can't tackle, can't head the ball. Barring that, a great player, mocked George. But this bit of fun was inaccurate, if not actually unfair.

Beckham is as fit as ever, a mere 33 in a sport in which careers have tended to lengthen, and a team player above all others. At minimum, his England colleagues are reassured by the former captain's presence. On a good night, with maximum luck - and this would appear to be Capello's view - Beckham's appearance still bothers opponents.

Late in the game, players tire. When they tire they give away fouls. If they give away free-kicks within Beckham's scoring range - and that range remains considerable - there is a good chance they will pay a price. Beckham is not lavishly gifted, but what he does best he does better, still, than anyone in the world.

Hence the mistake made by those who argue that the arrival of Theo Walcott has rendered the veteran superfluous. It fails to compare like with like. Walcott is talented, but not notably so with a dead ball.

Beckham is yielding the stage bit by bit, it is true, but why should Capello deny himself an option? The Italian may be many things, but he is not obtuse or, for that matter, Steve McClaren.

Milan are probably more interested, meanwhile, in the commercial possibilities that never fail to surround Beckham. Ancelotti's team - and there are few kids in that bunch - is not crying out for another midfield player, nor is it clear that room exists for a visiting Englishman in a formation that makes little use of the flanks. It hardly matters. Capello knows Serie A as well as anyone. As a training camp the San Siro is vastly preferable to any MLS venue. Clearly, Beckham knows it too.

Yes, he wants the caps. "Just" the caps, if you prefer, and nothing more. For his dedication alone he probably deserves them, not to mention the knighthood that will surely come his way when memories have grown fond. But, unbelievable as it might have sounded a couple of years back, Beckham wants more.Can he really harbour hopes of the 2010 World Cup? Would it not be kinder to puncture his delusions? Was the habit of indulging fading heroes not a vice under previous England regimes?

That was before Capello began to make qualification seem like a formality, for once. Beckham has contributed a mere 28 minutes to the campaign. But he wants the biggest trophy of the lot more than anything. Desire on that scale is a precious commodity.

Should Beckham record another of those extraordinary crucial goals, all with be forgiven, of course, yet again. He may have gained his caps too easily, but I'll believe that when someone surpasses whatever record he winds up setting. If the record is set in South Africa, via California, Milan and all points in between, he will have managed a different sort of achievement.

It's called proving a point. He is good at that, too.