World Cup qual - Neville earns shock England call

Eurosport - Mon, 25 May 08:41:00 2009

England coach Fabio Capello surprisingly named Manchester United's veteran defender Gary Neville in his 24-man squad for World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra.

FOOTBALL 2008-09 Premier League - Gary Neville, Manchester United - 0

The 34-year-old Neville, United's club captain, made the last of his 85 England appearances against Spain in 2007 and is no longer a regular first choice at his club after battling with injuries for the last two seasons.

Capello also recalled Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson who made the last of his 41 international appearances when England lost to Russia in a Euro 2008 qualifier in 2007.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermaine Defoe was included after injury kept him out of England's first three internationals of the year.

Capello, however, will be without first-choice goalkeeper David James of Portsmouth and Ben Foster of Manchester United who are both injured.

Everton defender Phil Jagielka and Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing are also missing because of injuries which are unlikely to heal before the start of next season.

Capello will be keeping his fingers crossed that the Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton players come through their next matches unscathed.

United face Barcelona in the Champions League final on Wednesday and Chelsea and Everton meet in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

England top Group Six with five successive wins from their and victories in Kazakhstan and against Andorra at Wembley would virtually seal their place in next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Squad

Goalkeepers

Scott Carson (West Bromwich Albion), Robert Green (West Ham United), Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers)

Defenders

Wayne Bridge (Manchester City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Gary Neville (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham United)

Midfielders

Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (AC Milan), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

Forwards

Carlton Cole (West Ham United), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Reuters

Comment 57 - 76 of 76

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  1. andylowe18,
    who are the best three strikers in Italy,­ Germany and Portugal?

    From Seyi A, on Tue 26 May 4:16AM
  2. OMG He has not been playing well, he probably cant find­ a decent defender. Rio should be fit? John Terry should­ be in it, Carragher if needed is capello going to play­ a 4-4-2 again? good choice if he does. or 5-3-2

    From Nath, on Tue 26 May 1:14AM
  3. Gary Neville has not earned and England recall he has­ hardly kicked a ball this season. Another gift­ wrapped cap courtesy of the Manager.

    From Ross H, on Tue 26 May 1:05AM
  4. Look at the Spanish league. The best three strikers are­ French, Cameroonian and Argentinian
    Look at the Italian­ league. The best three strikers are Swedish, Brazilian­ and Brazilian
    Look at the German league. The best three­ strikers are Italian, Bosnia and Herzogovenian and­ Brazilian
    Look at the Portuguese league. The best three­ strikers are Brazilian, Paraguayan and­ Brazilian

    Enough said?

    From andylowe18, on Mon 25 May 7:23PM
  5. Clive V finally someone who can see Carrick's­ ability. I don't know how long I have been saying­ that he should be in the England team and everyone­ always responds with 'but where would you play­ Gerrard and Lampard?' I don't think that we­ need to play both, if you wanted to you could play­ Gerrard behind the striker but then you would have 2­ forwards (Rooney and Gerrard) and no striker. Also he­ is deffinately better than Barry.

    From andylowe18, on Mon 25 May 7:10PM
  6. Is it not ironic that the sharpest, most potent­ strikers in the EPL are not in the England squad­ because they ar foreigners? Only Rooney is a striker of­ note on that list. Capello may have to rely on­ midfielders that score (Gerrard, Walcott Lampard,­ Beckam, etc) and defenders that also score (Terry,­ Lescot). Indeed, he must demonstrate that football is a­ team sport.

    From Kaybee, on Mon 25 May 6:42PM
  7. I discorvered a hot place
    ------Wealth y F inder C o­ M------ where many sexy singles- who like dating and--­ chatting there. I'm an open- minded girl with­ s---exual a--ttraction and big b---oobs. I-- am ­ Waiting 4 u

    From burningfish257, on Mon 25 May 6:33PM
  8. Everyone who is ENGLISH and is taking a swipe at­ Manchester United should sit back a little and ask­ themselves if the club and SAF should be at the­ receiving end of any sticks you're dishing out.­ Looking through the list, the so-called big 4 can only­ produce 9 players, 4 from Manutd, 3 from Chelsea and 1­ each from Liverpool and Arsenal. I agree Gary Neville­ shouldn't necessary make the list but questions­ should be asked as to why the two other teams can only­ produce just one reputable English talent in their­ fold.

    From jacksonwafor, on Mon 25 May 4:00PM
  9. FABio is the real deal !!!!! Why do you idiots not­ look at the table and see Capello's record in the­ games that COUNT.

    From Peter, on Mon 25 May 3:35PM
  10. louisez69,

    What the hell are you talking about?? how­ have you made a link to SAF in this story? you must be­ mental!! SAF has no influence over either who is picked­ by the national coach or who is chosen by the players­ to be crowned best player of the year. Mad @#$%.

    From crazyjim799, on Mon 25 May 3:10PM
  11. everyone said Beckham was Past It. Enough said there i­ think.

    From crazyjim799, on Mon 25 May 3:01PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Really unlucky Arsenal and Liverpool fans, your teams­ in last 10 years working to create "Foreing­ Stars" with french and spanish players. Don't­ you forget that, kings of green field 2 greatest teams­ Manchester United despide 2 enjuries, they got normaly­ 4 or 5 players in National Team (Neville, Ferdinand,­ Brown, Hargreaves, Rooney) and Chelsea (A.Cole, Terry,­ Lampard, J.Cole).
    So, I consider that Capello is going­ to do a great job, cause everybody in the World knows­ witch country got all potencials for the Best National­ Team, also for the next World Cup Champions.

    From Xijas, on Mon 25 May 1:44PM
  13. Agree with alot of people with regards picking the­ wrong Neville as for forwards they just dont look­ strong enough to me other than rooney for the world­ stage looks to me as we wont be able to play two­ strikers against big teams instead opt for rooney with­ gerrard floating as for keeepers they 're all just­ decent if u think of premiership keepers & think of­ top 5 i would'nt put an english man in their there­ lies the problem

    From First L, on Mon 25 May 1:39PM
  14. In all honesty against the quality of opposition coming­ up you could rest Neville and play Orville.Apparently­ the Neville brothers dads name is Neville Neville - is­ that true?

    From richgscottuk, on Mon 25 May 1:27PM
  15. Neville? Heskey? Carlton? Robinson? WHY WHY­ WHY??????????????
    i guess capello must be waiting for­ almunia to become an english national.....

    From fabregas, on Mon 25 May 1:17PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    such a @#$%e choice of keepers, capello. carson?­ really? noe a good squad coach, not a good squad at all

    From Zahrah H, on Mon 25 May 12:22PM
  17. Most of the Comments 42 and onwards on this article­ perhaps show the downside of giving everyone their­ say....quite pathetic and unless internet providers can­ sort out this sort of shambles, then these sites become­ totally irrelevant.

    From Suft 26, on Mon 25 May 12:05PM
  18. carson? heskey?.....capello such a loser

    From yucxs_murda, on Mon 25 May 11:49AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    WINKERS ALL OF YOU .

    From Dean, on Mon 25 May 10:45AM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Saeed . did you piss your pants there ?

    From Dean, on Mon 25 May 10:42AM
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