On Tuesday, Fabio Capello has some tough decisions to make and tricky questions to answer, as he name his 30-man provisional squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa. By June 1st, he must cut seven more from the list. Eyebrows were certainly raised by the selection of some, though all the familiar and predicted names made the list.
The squad in full is:
GK: Joe Hart (Birmingham City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham United)
DEF: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham Hotspur), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)
MID: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Tottenham Hotspur), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Scott Parker (West Ham United), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Chelsea), James Milner (Aston Villa)
ATT: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
The surprises were the selections of Ledley King and Jamie Carragher. King’s form of recent for Tottenham has been nothing sort of stunning, but his injury history would suggest taking him in the final 23 would be a massive gamble for Capello. Carragher has been persuaded out of international retirement, having not played for his country since 2007, but he won’t be guaranteed a first-team place and he quite probably is more likely to be warming the bench more often than not. Plus, his form for Liverpool has been very patchy this campaign. This can only suggest that Capello can’t trust Glen Johnson’s defensive naivety, plus the form of disgrace former captain John Terry and Rio Ferdinand’s tendency to break down with injuries.
In the midfield, Fabio has taken another risk, with the selection of Gareth Barry. An ankle injury suffered in Manchester City’s penultimate Premiership match against Tottenham Hotspur has left the ex-Villa player with a race against time to be fit for the World Cup opener in Rustenberg on June 12th, against the USA. Injury keeps Owen Hargreaves and as expected, David Beckham out, whilst Stewart Downing was a shock absentee from the final shortlist. Instead, Adam Johnson’s gamble on swapping Championship football with Middlesbrough for Manchester City in January, as he has managed to win himself a chance of making the plane. An out-of-form and out of contract Joe Cole is his rival for the left-midfield place, with Ashley Young another missing out. Tottenham’s Tom Huddlestone and West Ham’s Scott Parker have been rewarded for their fine campaigns with the chance of going to South Africa, though one, maybe both may miss out on the final cut.
Upfront, Capello looked set to pick Bobby Zamora, after his tremendous season with Fulham. However, Zamora, who limped through 55 minutes of Fulham’s brave defeat in Wednesday’s UEFA Europa League final, told Capello he would be unable for selection, as he requires minor surgery on an Achilles problem. With Gabby Agbonlahor fading badly with club form, and Carlton Cole’s fitness problems a gamble too far, it made Capello’s striking dilemma not an issue, with Darren Bent, 2nd top English goalscorer this season, at Sunderland joining the regulars, Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch.
Who makes the final 23 remains to be seen and Capello must make his final decision whilst on a England training camp in Austria, but he has picked a very strong initial 30-man squad, one of the strongest out of all the major nations. Staying injury-free and playing well in England’s final friendly on home shores against Mexico in ten days time could provide to be the final piece in the jigsaw for Fabio, as he seeks to end forty-four years of hurt.
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