David Beckham will snub Fabio Capello’s suggestion that he says farewell in an England friendly at Wembley, after Capello publicly announced that the 35-year-old should retire from football.

Capello royally put his foot in it yesterday, announcing in a TV interview that Beckham is too old to play for England and that he should retire to make way for younger players.

The England manager went on to say that he was sure if Beckham were fit, the 35-year-old would be selected for a friendly to say goodbye to his fans.

There was speculation that Beckham would be given a backroom role in the qualification campaign for Euro 2012, as he was for the World Cup 2010.

However, during the TV interview Capello said an emphatic “no”.

“I am changing everything and we are going forward,” said the Italian.

“David Beckham is a fantastic man and a fantastic player. My relationship with him is really good. I am 100% sure he will play the next friendly game if he is fit.

“But we need young players and we need talented players and the players we used against Hungary are young and they have talent.”

Beckham was reportedly called minutes after Capello’s statement as the FA’s communications team realised its magnitude. Apparently, he had not been previously consulted on the issue of his retirement.

According to the Press Association, Beckham has no intention of announcing his retirement and it therefore seems unlikely that he will want to take part in a ‘farewell’ game.