The Fan

Green slip gives USA draw

England 1 - USA 1

A calamitous slip from England’s Rob Green gifted USA a draw after England took an early lead.

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England captain Rio Ferdinand will miss the World Cup after suffering ligmament damage to his left knee in the team’s first training session in South Africa.

Steven Gerrard will now take over as England captain for the tournament.

From: BBC

Ferdinand will be replaced by Spurs’ Michael Dawson.

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Arsenal winger Theo Walcott was the surprise omission from Fabio Capello’s 23-man England World Cup squad.

Darren Bent, Adam Johnson, Scott Parker, Michael Dawson, Leighton Baines and Tom Huddlestone also miss out.

From: BBC

The final squad is:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

Defenders: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Forwards: Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

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England v Japan

England 2 - Japan 1

An experimental England rely on 2 own goals as they scrape a victory against Japan.

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World Cup memories: Brazil 82

Brazil 1982: the best team never to win?

The Brazil team of Espana ‘82 were arguably one of the best attacking teams Brazil had ever produced. Defending was a different matter…

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Capello names team for final warm-up

Capello gives Bent and Huddlestone starts against Japan

What clues are there for England’s South Africa 2010 squad?

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The Italian (Fabio Capello) revealed he tried to persuade Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes to come out of international retirement, but failed.

From: BBC

Not too much surprise here.

Scholes ‘retired’ after he was effectively dropped after the emergence of Lampard and he found himself 4th choice midfielder after Beckham and Gerrard. There’s no doubt he could still have played a role, though, especially after Barry’s injury.

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England’s Preliminary Squad for 2010

Capello named his provisional squad of 30 players. Amongst them were a few surprises, with inclusions for uncapped Adam Johnson and Michael Dawson, and a recall for Jamie Carragher.

The final squad of 23 must be named by 1 June.

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