As Fabio Capello faces a genuine test as an International manager against France in Paris tonight, the camera’s will no doubt be on David Beckham.

The LA Galaxy midfielder will become only the fifth Englishman ever to win one hundred caps for his country. It is unclear as to whether Beckham will start on the pitch or on the bench but, either way, the media focus will be fixed on the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player.

It is a spectacular achievement for the man who was once castigated for England’s failure at the 1998 World Cup after getting sent off for flicking out at Diego Simeone. However, the former England captain bounced back from that, and many other set-backs, to maintain an International standard of football for 10 years.

However, there will be other interesting story lines played out in the Stade de France, including Capello’s ability to address the problems England suffered against Switzerland in February and how Rio Ferdinand handles the captain’s armband.

Capello, after the stuttering victory over a weak Swiss outfit last month, will be expected to draw a much better performance from his England team against one of the best football nations in the world.

The Italian’s first game as England boss was a victorious one with goals from Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips enough to overcome Switzerland at Wembley, but the England players, despite a determined attitude, struggled to adapt to the 4-5-1 formation that is a trademark of Capello. With more time to work with his squad this week the Italian will be hoping his squad can deliver a more fluid performance against the French.

France, the 1998 World Champions and 2000 European Champions, have seen an exodus of quality players from their squad since those successful years, and will be without Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira for the tie with England after the two stars pulled out with injuries.

However, with the experienced heads of David Trezeguet, William Gallas and Lilian Thuram, coupled with the youthful talent of Hatem Ben Arfa and Franck Ribery, the 2006 World Cup finalists certainly have a side to be feared.

England’s squad has been trimmed from the 30 players named on Friday to 23 with Jermain Defoe, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Gabriel Agbonlahor amongst those to miss out.

However, good news for Capello is that Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard have both recovered from knocks sustained in Premier League fixtures at the weekend.

Like the rest of the squad, those two players will be desperate to impress the Italian and secure their place in this new-look England side. A good performance against the Euro 2008–bound French could do just that.