Beckham Survives Capello’s Cull

Hi, I’m Daryl and I’ll be stepping in to take over from Matthew who’s had to give up England WCB due to other commitments. Not a problem though, there’s plenty to talk about.

The big news, apparently, is that Beckham survived Fabio Capello’s culling of the England squad from 30 down to 23. Shouldn’t really be a big surprise. But a look at who didn’t make the cut is a little worrying. I was hoping to see Gabi Agbonlahor finally make his England debut, Ashley Young get another game and Jermain Defoe get to take his excellent Portsmouth form (six in six, can’t argue with that) to the Stade de France. But they won’t, because all were left out of the final 23.

I’m sure most of the players deserve to be in the 23. Even Stewart Donwing has been doing alright for Middlesbrough. And I’m not going to argue with Becks getting his 100th cap. But given the shambles that was England in 2007, it would have been far more exciting (and useful) to look at players like Agbonlahor and Young, who may be England’s future. As opposed to talking about and watching Beckham, who is very much part of the past.

Either way, there’s still a game to played. Here is Capello’s final 23, lovingly cut and pasted from the BBC, followed by Raymond Domenech’s French squad, which contains too many players to count:

England squad:

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur), Robert Green (West Ham)

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Joleon Lescott (Everton), John Terry (Chelsea), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (AstonVilla), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)

Forwards: Michael Owen (Newcastle United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

France squad:

Goalkeepers: Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Mickael Landreau (PSG), Hugo Lloris (Nice), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon), Gael Clichy (Arsenal), Francois Clerc (Lyon), Mathieu Delpierre (Stuttgart), Julien Escude (Seville), Patrice Evra (Manr Utd), William Gallas (Arsenal), Gael Givet (Marseille), Philippe Mexes (AS Roma), Adil Rami (Lille), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon), Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona)

Midfielders: Mathieu Bodmer (Lyon), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth), Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Jerome Rothen (PSG),

Strikers: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Hatem Ben Arfa (Lyon), David Trezeguet (Juventus), Jimmy Briand (Rennes), Djibril Cisse (Marseille), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Louis Saha (Man Utd), Loic Remy (Lens)