Tuesday 11 May 2010

Capello's first choice for England

England's 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup finals:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.


Defenders: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.

But no Bentley.  Hmmm, I wonder if he would like to take up the offer of writing for us during the World Cup, so unceremoniously declined by Aaron Ramsey!

Meanwhile, Fifa general secretary Jerome Valckehile has admitted an extra £67m ($100m) had to be injected into the project to ensure hosts South Africa were ready.  England officials expressed deep concern about the team's World Cup base, particularly the state of the training pitches, when they visited the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus in December ...

 ... they had a point.