England v Trinidad & Tobago - 1 June 2008 - Friendly
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO v ENGLAND
Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain
Date: Sunday, 1 June
Kick-off: 2230 BST
David Beckham is set to start as England captain for the Trinidad game as Capello retained Rio Ferdinand and rested the remaining 7 English players involved in last week’s Champions League final.
Chelsea’s John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole, plus Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown are out.
Chelsea full-back Wayne Bridge is in the squad, although the full-back did not play in the Champions League final. David Beckham is also in the 22-man squad travelling to the Caribbean and Capello is happy to keep him in his plans for the World Cup qualifying campaign.
The enforced rest means that new players could get a chance to stake their claim in the England setup. The backline will be reshaped, with Bridge, Woodgate and Glen Johnson expected to come in and Joe Hart and David Wheater expected to get some playing time as well.
In midfield we could see fewer changes with Barry, Beckham and Gerrard all expected to play major roles, although Bentley, Downing and Young could also get a run out.
Upfront, one of Ashton, Walcott and Agbonlahor will definitely get a chance.
Overall, this should be a good fixture for England’s second XI to play together and stake a claim for a starting berth.
England squad:
Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Joe Lewis (Peterborough)
Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)
Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), David Bentley (Blackburn), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth).
I think this will be the last time Beckham is captain! I’m guessing it will be John Terry moving forward.
Captaincy candidates:
Terry
Gerrard
Ferdinand
Beckham
Of these 4, you’d expect Capello to pick someone who would, when fit, lead England to South Africa 2010 at least. This rules out Beckham because his fitness can’t be guaranteed’, nor is his place given that there are two years to go.
Ferdinand is my pick, the rest is just rationalisations
I dont think this puts beckham up for nomination…. if it does id like to request a new manager please
I’d like stevie to get it for obvious reasons but I think Terry will get although i think Ferdinand would make the best captain of England !!??
It’s a shame that fans and pundits alike only ever seem to compare on a single player for player basis. Discussions have centred on Beckham or Bentley but they’re irrelevant when a fit Micah Richards is available. As one of the best attacking full backs in the game, Richards has the ability to go past Beckham, and Beckham has the ability to cover for his full back. This leaves Beckham free to concentrate on the early delivery of the quality cross, as well as set-pieces, and Richards free to terrorise his opposing full-back. Speed then ceases to be an issue for Beckham. A no-brainer…
Capello: “I’ve learnt a lot over the last 10 days. I have learnt some players are good in training but not so good when it comes to the game.”
Any wagers on who he’s talking about?