MADRID, July 31: David Beckham has said he hopes to recover from his knee and tendon injuries in time for Real Madrid's pre-season tour of the United States next month.

“Hopefully I'll be fit for the games in the USA. We'll have to wait and see because I only started running on Sunday without any pain,” Beckham told the Real website on Monday.

He suffered the injuries and had to be replaced during England's World Cup quarter-final clash with Portugal, which they lost on penalties at the beginning of July.

The midfielder has been training separately from the rest of the Real squad since joining up at their pre-season training camp in Austria last week.

Beckham is looking forward to playing alongside his former Manchester United team mate Ruud van Nistelrooy, who completed his move to the Spanish capital on Friday.

“He is one of the best goalscorers I have ever played with,” said Beckham. “He runs for the team and he works hard.”

Real are scheduled to play DC United in Seattle on Aug 9 and Real Salt Lake in Salt Lake City on Aug 12.—Reuters