On Monday England named their provisional squad for the 2014 World Cup, as manager Roy Hodgson picked a squad brimming with young talent.
The big news to come from the announcement was that veteran left back Ashley Cole missed out, as teenager Luke Shaw made the squad, while youngsters Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling were also called up.
Liverpool have five players in the squad with Steven Gerrard captaining the Three Lions and he is joined by Sterling, Glen Johnson, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge. Manchester United have four players called up with Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck up top and Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in defense, while Southampton have three representatives as Shaw is joined by Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert. Hodgson revealed the 23 players who will be on the plane to Brazil, plus seven reserves who will be on standby if needed.
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England will travel to Portugal next week to prepare for the tournament and will then play Peru at Wembley on May 30 in a friendly. After that Hodgson must confirm his final 23-man squad by June 2 as the Three Lions will then jet off to Florida to train and play friendlies against Ecuador (June 4) and Honduras (June 7) in Miami.
The English national team will then travel to Brazil to play against Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the World Cup group stages with little pressure on their shoulders. Many are seeing this tournament as a stepping stone for the future and will welcome Hodgson’s decision to give youth a chance.
Here is the 23-man squad England will take to the World Cup, plus the seven men on standby:
Goalkeepers (3): Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, Ben Foster
Defenders (7): Glen Johnson, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Leighton Baines, Luke Shaw
Midfielders (9): Ross Barkley, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Frank Lampard, Adam Lallana, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling, Jack Wilshere
Strikers (4): Rickie Lambert, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck
Standby list: John Ruddy, Jon Flanagan, John Stones, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe