england Archives

Capello Recalls Crouch and Lennon

Fabio Capello announced his England squad earlier today and the most notable changes in the team are the inclusion of Tottenham's Peter Crouch and Aaron Lennon after excellent displays in the Premier League over the weekend.

Manchester United defender Wes Brown was also recalled and Gerrard returns after over coming the injury that prevented him from taking part in the Holland game, but yet again there is no place in the squad for Michael Owen.

England play Solvenia at Wembley on Saturday 5th September and face Croatia in the World Cup Qualifier on Wednesday 9th.

The England Squad:

Goalkeepers: Foster (Manchester United), Green (West Ham), Robinson (Blackburn)

Defenders: Johnson (Liverpool), Brown (Manchester United), Upson (West Ham), Terry (Chelsea, capt), Lescott (Manchester City), A Cole (Chelsea), Bridge (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Lennon (Tottenham), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Barry (Manchester City), Lampard (Chelsea), Carrick (Manchester United), Gerrard (Liverpool), A Young (Aston Villa), Milner (Aston Villa)

Strikers: Rooney (Manchester United), Heskey (Aston Villa), Defoe (Tottenham), C Cole (West Ham), Crouch (Tottenham).

England Stun Croatia

Last night saw a complete turnaround of the dismal result that dumped us out of the Euro 2008 qualifiers when Croatia edged a close victory against England, indicating an overall improvement under Capello's tenure as coach and bringing the winning streak to eight consecutive games won within the World Cup Qualifiers.

But it wasn't just a victory of the Croats - it was a demolishing. Five good goals, which could easily been ten or twelve if Heskey could actually finish. Goals by Lampard (2), Gerrard (2) and Rooney - not to mention a spectacular performance by red-hot Aaron Lennon - helped to secure the victory and ensuring England a place in next year's World Cup.

Coach Capello said: "I'm very happy. We've achieved our target early.

"I think this was the best performance under me. We played fast, pressed the ball and our movement was fantastic."

"Both of our performances against Croatia pleased me," stated Capello. "We need to press hard, play fast and develop our movement on and off the ball - and we showed that in both games."

"We are a good team, we are playing well but we have to keep our feet on the ground."