He only played half an hour in England’s final World Cup qualifier against Belarus at Wembley on Wednesday night, but it was enough for David Beckham to show just why he not only deserves a seat on the plane to South Africa come next June with his Man of the Match performance, but why it should be a first class one at that.

Regardless of the fact that England had already qualified at the top of their group, or that the unbeaten streak had been broken by the Ukraine the previous Saturday, this was still a qualifier with much at stake for the players trying to secure their places in Fabio Capello’s squad.

After all, there are only four friendlies scheduled between November and the start of the Finals next summer for those on the fringes to impress the Italian supremo.

Without Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard at Wembley, much of the pre-match talk surrounded the front pairing of Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor to bolster their claims for a place alongside the Manchester United frontman. And in all fairness, they combined brilliantly for Crouch’s opening goal inside four minutes to put England 1-0 up against Belarus and forced an uncomfortable smile from the out-of-favour Emile Heskey on the sidelines.

However, just when you thought England would push on, the game went horribly flat for the remainder of the opening period, highlighted only by a Mexican wave by fans as half-time thoughts of hot dogs and beers neared.

With just over an hour gone and with little happening, the biggest cheer of the night from the Wembley crowd came with Beckham’s impending introduction, albeit for the unlucky Aaron Lennon who had impressed down the right hand side despite limited opportunities and was far more effective than Shawn Wright Philips on the opposite flank.

Despite the dodgy facial hair and the rumblings of jetlag that had prompted Capello to leave Goldenballs out of the team to face Ukraine four days earlier, Becks’ introduction regalvanised the whole England team. His first touch – a corner on the left – provided the unexpected. While everyone waited for the delivery in the six yard box, the 34-year-old L.A. Galaxy superstar picked out SWP on the edge of the area and the Manchester City winger sidestepped the on-rushing marker and swept a shot into the corner of the net to make it 2-0.

One touch, one assist. That’s what Beckham does. That’s what he always does – provide goals.

He may not have the pace of Lennon or SWP, but he does what he says on the tin, creating goals, creating opportunities, providing stability, experience, reliability, and above all, class. World class.

With his introduction alone, the forwards instantly know that any runs made will be rewarded by a searching pass, putting defenders under pressure, immediately putting his team on the front foot. He’s not just in the side for his set pieces – which, given Frank Lampard’s attempts in recent games, should never be underestimated – he knows how to play the short ball, he knows who wants it to feet, who wants it high, who wants to run on to the ball, how to switch defence into attack. After providing the assist, his second touch was filling in at full back in cover for Glenn Johnson, proving he still has the legs, too.

Capello, who dropped Beckham while he was manager at Real Madrid and is, bizarrely, indirectly responsible for his move to L.A., was one of many won over by his professionalism as the former England captain continued to prove people wrong, just as he has always done. After infamously slating his move at the time, Capello was forced to swallow his words as Beckham forced his way back into the Madrid team and then led them to another La Liga title before he left the Spanish capital.

Capello has made no secret that Becks needs to be playing regularly in a competitive league, and while the MLS is growing in all ways, unfortunately that means nothing to the Italian. While the Galaxy fans seem to be the latest to buy into the Becks way (after all, they’ve made it into the play-offs for the first time in years), he is destined for another loan spell in Milan come January.

For England, it means the off-season in December provides their former captain with a month’s rest before joining the Italian giants in the run-up to South Africa. Despite his age, he may well be the freshest of all the players in the England team come June – and, judging by his performance and his reception at Wembley, he certainly remains the most important.

Lennon, SWP, Walcott, Milner et al still have a lot to learn before they can have any realistic ambitions of replacing Goldenballs.