London, Mar 22 : The decision by David Beckham to stay at AC Milan may have cost him a cool two million pounds, but has saved his World Cup dream.

England boss Fabio Capello has confirmed Beckham would have been axed from his squad if he had returned to LA Galaxy this month.

Instead, Beckham sacrificed two million pounds of his personal fortune to help broker an extended loan spell with Milan and so is in line to pick up his 109th and 110th caps for his country in the clashes with Slovakia and Ukraine at Wembley, The Sun reports.

Capello revealed: “At this moment it’s important for him to play in Europe. America is not the same level as Europe.”

Beckham would have switched top-level Serie A football for pre-season training with Galaxy, further eroding his hopes of making it to South Africa 2010.

Capello added: “You know my decision — always I put in the squad the players that play. And that’s the reason why Beckham will be in the squad. I have watched on TV the last few games that David has played and he played very well. So I am happy, though it was not my decision. I was not involved. It’s a decision by Beckham and between LA and Milan.”

How Capello uses Beckham, though, is a different matter with Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips competing for the wide right role. (ANI)