No Rio or Gerrard for England

England will head into their Euro 2012 showdown with Montenegro without two of their most experienced players after Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard were both left out ofFabio Capello's squad.

England need a draw in Podgorica on Friday to book their place at next summer's European Championship finals. And Capello has decided they can achieve that mission without two men who have amassed a combined total of 167 caps.

Gerrard had already said he did not believe he was fit enough to be involved after only just recovering from a groin injury. However, Ferdinand was expected to be included after shaking off the hamstring strain he suffered at West Brom in August. 

Jermain Defoe and Joleon Lescott have lost their places, with Bobby Zamora  and Scott Carson recalled to a 24-man squad.

Zamora's only cap came in a friendly against Hungary in August last year, after which he was sidelined after suffering a broken leg the following month. He did return as a substitute for the June qualifier with Switzerland but did not play.

Now 30, Zamora was bizarrely cited by Capello as one of the young players on which England's future rested following their woeful World Cup performance.

Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker is recalled after impressing England coach Fabio Capello with a wholehearted display in Sunday's north London derby, culiminating in a 25-yard drive for the winning goal in a 2-1 victory for Spurs.

Capello has promised that his side will not look for a draw in Montenegro, but aim to take all three points.

"If you play for a draw it is a big mistake, you are defending a result and it is easy then to make silly or stupid mistakes," he told FATV.

"We need to go to win in Montenegro and not to play for a draw."

England squad: Scott Carson (Bursaspor), Joe Hart (Man City), David Stockdale (Ipswich); Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Bolton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones (Man Utd), Micah Richards (Man City), John Terry (captain, Chelsea), Kyle Walker (Tottenham); Gareth Barry (Man City), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Man City), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Man Utd); Darren Bent (Aston Villa), Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Danny Welbeck (Man Utd), Bobby Zamora (Fulham)

source: www.bbc.co.uk, ESPN (www.soccernet.com)

No cup qualms for Capello

England could also be paired against the unseeded France and Portugal, the latter of the two having knocked England out of their last two major tournaments.

England manager Fabio Capello says he does not fear a 'group of death' ahead of the World Cup finals draw.

England are one of the top-eight seeds and will avoid the likes of pre-tournament favourites Brazil, current holders Italy and European champions Spain.

But the Italian is eager to warn of the danger of the African nations that will be represented in South Africa, including the likes of Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

remains unfazed by the prospect of a so called 'group of death' situation though, and he said: "No I don't (worry) about that.

"You have to play against all of the teams at some point, but of course if you play against the best teams it's not so easy to pass the first round.

"If we want to win you have to play against all of the teams. It is not important which team we have to play in the group."

Football Association chairman Lord Triesman said England "will sail through" the group stage if they emulate their qualifying form, where Capello's men lost just one of their 10 matches.

The England manager urged some caution though, and he tipped one of the African nations to reach the semi-finals.

England have a one-in-five chance of drawing an African side, alongside a guaranteed European team.

The other option will come from an unseeded South American side and one team from Asia, Oceania and north/central America zones.

"I think about Africans and I believe this will be one of the most important World Cups for the African teams," Capello said.

"I believe one of these countries will get to the last four. I saw the Ivory Coast play against Germany and they are a very strong team."

- in South Africa promoting England's 2018 World Cup bid - also said Capello's side should not worry about their group opponents.

He added: "If you want to go all the way in the competition you have to come up against them at some point.

source:www.skysports.com

World Cup 2010: Fabio's fear as England sweat on seeding ahead of Final Draw

England are sweating on a place among the top seeds for the World Cup draw here in Cape Town on Friday.

Fabio Capello will discover England’s fate on Wednesday when the World Cup organising committee meet to agree on the criteria.

The Football Association expected FIFA to consider the last two tournaments and recent world rankings in selecting the seven nations who will join hosts South Africa in the pot of top seeds.

Had that been the criteria, England, having been ranked sixth in 2002 and seventh in Germany four years ago, would virtually have been guaranteed joining Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the hosts in the seeded group.

The other eight European qualifiers would then make up the second group, with Africa’s five qualifiers plus Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay in the next pot, and the eight qualifiers from Asia, Oceania and North and Central America in the fourth tier.

But Capello’s men are under threat for their place from a growing lobby for the final seedings to be determined on world rankings alone, which would see Holland pip England for a place in the first bracket.

England were ranked seventh in October - which is the last ranking FIFA will take into account - but prior, to the 2002 World Cup, an average was taken over three years to determine the seedings. On that basis, England would be outside the top seven and behind France. Holland are currently third in the rankings, having been above England throughout the past three years.

Had England won in Ukraine in October - they lost 1-0 after Robert Green was sent off at the start of the game - they would have edged above Argentina in that month’s rankings, which FIFA have confirmed will be used in the process.

A FIFA insider said: ‘There is no front-runner in terms of how the seedings will be decided and there will be arguments.

‘It is the case that seedings in 2002 and 2006 were determined by a mixture of previous results and rankings. But there is a view that we need to make the rankings mean more, especially as every match played by every nation, including friendlies, contribute.

‘There are members of the organising committee who plan to argue that this is the chance to make the world rankings more important.

‘At this stage, nobody knows what will happen or what criteria will be used. It depends on which members of the organising committee make the strongest argument.’

Worryingly for Capello, England is not represented on the organising committee. But France - through Michel Platini - Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Germany and South Africa are.

As are Portugal, in the form of Portuguese FA president Gilberto Madail, and they are likely to propose an alternative plan, putting weight on performances during Euro 2008 - which might allow his nation to edge England out.

It means an anxious night for Capello, due to arrive in Cape Town on Thursday and keen to avoid having to take on a big gun in the group phase. A worst-case scenario might see England in a group including Brazil and Ivory Coast, as well as a team like Australia.

source: www.dailynews.co.uk

Steven Gerrard - Hero of Liverpool

Full name: Steven George Gerrard
Date of birth: May 30th, 1980
Place of birth: Whiston, Merseyside
Position: Midfielder
Club: Liverpool

Steven George Gerrard started out playing for hometown team Whiston Juniors, where he was noticed by Liverpool scouts. He joined the Reds' youth academy at the age of nine. He signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on 5 November 1997.

Gerrard made his Liverpool first-team debut on 29 November 1998 in a match against Blackburn Rovers as a last minute substitute for Vegard Heggem.

2004/05: A broken bone in his foot left Gerrard sidelined for two months from September, but he returned to strike the late goal against Olympiacos CFP to take Liverpool past the group stage. During a six-minute stretch in the second half of the 2005 Champions League final against A.C. Milan, Liverpool rebounded from a three-goal deficit to tie the match at 3–3 after extra time, with Gerrard scoring one of the goals. He did not participate in the penalty shootout, which Liverpool won 3–2 as they claimed their first CL trophy in twenty years, though he was named the Man of the Match, and later received the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.

Although he then seemed set to leave Anfield, he had a dramatic change of heart and signed a new four-year contract. Typically, he struck a hat-trick in the first game after agreeing his new deal, in the Champions League first qualifying round against Total Network Solutions FC.

Despite winning the Champions League in 2004/05 and reaching the final in 2006/07 Gerrard's gripe is that Liverpool have failed to mount a challenge on the Premier League title.

Gerrard has limitless energy, has a great eye for a final pass and is a prolific scorer for a midfielder - often scoring blistering long-range strikes that has become his trademark.

Gerrard is simply one of the outstanding performers of the Premier League, a star of the European stage and the kind of player every team in the world would have.