Steve McClaren hinted at starting David Beckham for England's next matches as the former captain completed his first training session following his recall.
The 32-year-old was lined up in midfield with Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole during a 10-a-side drill at London Colney, 331 days since he last wore the England shirt.
Beckham finished training with a jog and stretches accompanied by Chris Neville from the backroom staff while the rest of the squad had running exercises, but there appeared no obvious sign of injury.
Plenty has happened since Beckham limped out of England's World Cup quarter-final defeat to Portugal in the World Cup in Germany, the start of the drama when he stood down as captain and was then dropped by McClaren.
He signed a pre-contract with Los Angeles Galaxy and has inspired Real Madrid's La Liga challenge, all while England have toiled in his absence during their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
A five-match winless streak in all competitions saw fans abuse McClaren, vitriol which was reportedly then aimed towards the non-playing squad members in Barcelona when the run ended with an unconvincing victory over Andorra.
It has put pressure on McClaren ahead of the qualifier in Estonia on June 6. There is the matter of the first England match at the new Wembley, a friendly against Brazil on Friday, before then.
With England fourth in Group E, McClaren wanted Beckham's experience and his formation, albeit in a practice drill, suggests Beckham could feature from the start.
With a clutch of fans looking on, Beckham's entrance to the training session had added suspense as he was the last off the team bus at Arsenal's training facilities.
McClaren joined his players after the warm-up and was on Beckham's side for the first drill, a light-hearted session of keep-ball. Beckham's first pass was to the boss who dropped him at the start of the season.
With strapping on his left knee, Beckham was understated compared to the presence of his successor, John Terry, and other senior members of the squad.
During the 10-a-side match he showed glimpses of his passing and crossing range, and played a part when Alan Smith scored the only goal after around 20 minutes of play.
After jogging with Neville he then signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans before getting back on the team bus, completing a busy few days after helping Madrid to victory over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday to keep himself on course for his first trophy since moving to Spain.
Defenders Rio Ferdinand, Michael Dawson and Ledley King did not take part in the session and were warming-down at the team hotel, while Wayne Bridge was at London Colney but was jogging with a backroom-staff member.
Scott Carson has been on Under-21 duty and will join the squad later.
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