World Cup qual. - King recalled by England

Eurosport - Tue, 24 Mar 09:26:00 2009

Tottenham Hotspur defender Ledley King, who cannot train between matches because of a chronic knee injury, has been recalled to the England squad for forthcoming matches against Slovakia and Ukraine.

FOOTBALL England defender Ledley King, recalled to the squad after a two-year absence - 0

England meet Slovakia in a friendly international at Wembley Stadium on Saturday March 28 and face Ukraine in a Group Six World Cup qualifier at the same venue on April 1.

King, who won the last of his 19 caps against Estonia in June 2007, has been rewarded for a series of impressive displays for his club, along with his Spurs team mate Aaron Lennon, who was promoted from the U21 squad to the senior party.

Lennon, who signed a new deal at Spurs last week, won the last of his nine caps against Andorra in a European qualifier in March 2007.

Everton defender Leighton Baines is called up for the first time while Manchester United's third choice keeper Ben Foster who gave an outstanding display for Manchester United in this month's League Cup final against Spurs, is also included by Capello for the first time.

He won one cap under manager Fabio Capello's predecessor Steve McLaren.

Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrad, who both missed England's last match against European champions Spain in Seville last month are also recalled.

David Beckham, who is on loan from LA Galaxy to Milan, will become England's most capped outfield player if he wins his 109th cap in either game. He currently shares the record with 1966 World Cup winning skipper Bobby Moore.

Four Aston Villa players - Luke Young, James Milner, Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor - have all been left out of the squad as has Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge.

England squad for both matches at Wembley:

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham United), Ben Foster (Manchester United)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), David Beckham (Milan), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool).

Forwards: Carlton Cole (West Ham United), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Reda Maher / Reuters

Comment 39 - 58 of 58

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. how is ledley king still even considered for england?­ why does he not retire? its obvious he's messing­ himself up more by carrying on....

    From matty12345_uk, on Mon 23 Mar 9:26PM

  2. or put gerrard as striker!

    From ftsg, on Mon 23 Mar 4:42PM

  3. y dnt capello play gerrard on the left instead of that­ @#$% downing.. gerrard can play any position

    From ftsg, on Mon 23 Mar 4:40PM

  4. jonnymernagh what are you talking about really, all the­ players you have listed have either won or played in a­ European Cup Final or had success on a domestic level. ­ Just because England havent clicked as a unit yet­ doesnt make them bad players, its the awful coaches­ that we have been lumbered with who could not hack­ international management, if you are English try­ getting behind the team for once, if not worry about­ your own nation.....

    From danhanratty, on Mon 23 Mar 3:11PM

  5. the point about OWEN is,England like to play with­ wingers,who put the ball into the box.The best striker­ we have got for that style of play is OWEN.He has­ scored almost as many goals as the other strikers added­ together,he does'nt need to prove himself.

    From steveduff1, on Mon 23 Mar 2:13PM

  6. Why has he picked 3 right wingers and only 1 left­ winger? Matt Taylor from Bolton is playing well.

    From Parrot, on Mon 23 Mar 1:23PM

  7. ENGLAND ARE A BUNCH OF OVER RATED PLAYBOYS .. THEY AE­ NO WHERE NEAR THE STANDARD OF SPAIN , HOLLAND , ITALY­ OR GERMANY .. AND THATS JUST THE EUROPEANS ...STOP­ LIVING IN 66 ... ENGLAND HAVE NO TOP CLASS KEEPER , NO­ PLAYER WITH ANY FLAIR , NO TOP CLASS STRIKER BUT ONE­ THING THEY DO HAVE WHICH IS THEIR SECRET WEAPON IS­ " ANOTHER EASY GROUP"

    JAMES­
    JOHNSON
    FERDINAND
    TERRY
    COLE
    LAMPARD
    GERRARD­
    LENNON
    J.COLE
    ROONEY
    CROUCH

    THATS PROBABLY THEIR­ BEST 11

    WEAK AS PISS !

    From john, on Mon 23 Mar 1:19PM

  8. Igwe (again) - your Owen comment is out of line as­ he's not been picked for the England squad.

    From RAMBR0, on Mon 23 Mar 12:57PM

  9. fu_ck yahoo and its invalid comment thing.

    From Billy, on Mon 23 Mar 12:43PM

  10. Comment 48, isn't Owen tired of being half fit.­ Please find better strikers and stop relying and half­ fit players

    From Godwin, on Mon 23 Mar 12:31PM

  11. Mztch Analysis!!!! Fulham 2 Man U 0
    Fegie: I have to­ complain to the FA, Fulham don't have a world class­ football pitch
    Ronaldo: Silence!!!, I kill you
    Rooney:­ Don't be angry with me, I was fed Kangaroo milk as­ a child
    Scholes: I can do Van de Saar's job­ better
    O' Shea: I don't fancy Ronaldo­ anymore
    Rio: Used the wrong dope again
    Evra:­ Dejavu
    Tevez: I was thinking of my immigration­ status
    Park: Chu Chi Gum, taste nice

    From Godwin, on Mon 23 Mar 12:30PM

  12. All you have to remember is that this is England, it­ doen't matter who is picked it all depends on what­ mood they are in when they work out on the pitch­ saturday. Is they are in the right mood they could beat­ any team in the world. COME ON EMGLAND!!!!

    From tg.bennett, on Mon 23 Mar 12:04PM

  13. even a 1/2 fit OWEN would be more effective than these­ strikers

    From steveduff1, on Mon 23 Mar 11:55AM

  14. you write a decent comment, yahoo says invalid, retards­ must be running yahoo

    From melliott650, on Mon 23 Mar 11:50AM

  15. Poor strikers, apart from Rooney

    From Adam C, on Mon 23 Mar 10:57AM

  16. In answer to slater835 Calton Cole has 11 goals this­ year, Heskey 4!

    From Andrew, on Mon 23 Mar 10:08AM

  17. A good squad exept the forwards. That a very poor­ 4some. Only Rooney has any genuine quality and he's­ a little @#$% that will probably get sent off.

    From Richard C, on Mon 23 Mar 10:05AM

  18. heskey???

    From p-e shafiee, on Mon 23 Mar 9:49AM

  19. re: slater835, on Mon 23 Mar 9:31AM
    As an Everton fan­ pleased to see 3 lads in the squad, but i do agree with­ slater835, they are just two of many who are­ constantly ignored, no matter what they do because they­ play for someone other than the "Big 4"­ capello seems to be bending the trend and so hopefully­ a few more players who actually want to play for their­ country get the oppertunity to do so, based on merit­ and passion not cash and cameras.

    From markgodders2000, on Mon 23 Mar 9:47AM

  20. Matty Taylor eight goals from Left mid.

    Kevin Davies­ 11 goals this season.

    What do the lads have to do to­ get ahead of Downing and Carlton Cole.

    From Colly, on Mon 23 Mar 9:31AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account