Beckham was dropped from Steve McClaren's squad after World Cup last year but England have struggled since and there have been calls for the 31-year-old Real Madrid midfielder to be selected for the crucial qualifier against Israel later this month.

Owen, who is recovering from the knee injury sustained at the World Cup, insists ex-England skipper Beckham can still contribute at international level.

"He is, and has been for many years, a world-class player," said Owen. "You're not going to get anything new, you know he's a top player who will deliver great free-kicks and work his socks off for the cause.

"It's not like the nation don't know what they are going to get from him so I don't know why there's a big hoo-ha about it. He's a fantastic player and everyone knows it."

The Newcastle striker added: "David Beckham hasn't changed as a player from three months ago, he's always been a top player playing in fantastic teams, he's won plenty of honours and has done England a great service over the years.

"That hasn't changed just because a few people have said he shouldn't be in the squad or vice-versa."

Former England striker Gary Lineker is among the people calling for Beckham to be recalled to help get England's European Championship qualifying campaign back on track, although bringing him into the squad could also be viewed as McClaren showing weakness by going back on his bold decision.

However, defeat in Tel-Aviv would leave England facing a battle to reach the finals in Austria and Switzerland next year.

Owen added on BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme: "It's a big game, it looks like it's between four teams in the group and Israel are certainly one of them, they're a difficult team to play particularly away from home.

"It'll be a tough task for the lads. We can't afford many, if any, slip-ups.

"We're not flying high in the group so we have to get a result out of this really. We want to avoid defeat obviously but it would be a fantastic result if we could go out there and win. But as everyone knows it's a tough place to go."

Owen, 27, admits England have underachieved over the last year but is optimistic about the future.

He said: "We haven't played as well as we should have in general terms for quite a few games now, back to the World Cup even when we didn't play well but got results.

"It almost gives you more confidence knowing you've got players who need tweaking here and there to make a very good team.

"I'd prefer to be in that situation than players who are poor and have to play above themselves.

"You just know the capability is there for us to get a bit of confidence - a spark from somewhere and I'm sure it'll click and we'll be a force to be reckoned with in world football again."

Owen is still hoping to play this season as he steps up his recovery from his cruciate ligament injury suffered against Sweden, although if he did he would still be short of a significant run of games ahead of the qualifier against Estonia in June.

"I'm at the good end of my rehab and everything is progressing nicely," he added.

"The running has been fine, twists and turns will be introduced later but it's nice to feel the aches and pains of running again. It's feeling like I'm a footballer again.

"Kicking has been fine. It's not like I've been doing shooting practice or smacking it as hard as I can but there's a lot passing and that's fine."

He added: "I haven't played for a while and I'll need to build up a lot of strength and do a lot of repetitive running.

"Hopefully I don't get any other problems, things like a tear in your hamstring or calf because your legs aren't used to doing anything for nine months or so.

"That's when it can be a bit risky. If I don't get anything like that then I'm still hopeful of playing again this season."