thought i'd put this in, just learn't that england have there 1st match next wednesday under new manager fabio. i was under the impression there would be no england matches til septmenber at the earlyest,to get the euros out the way. but anyway fingers crossed for a good match on wednesday

Well the squad was named today...and surprise surprise David Beckham is NOT included in the squad!

The first competitive matches are in September and October, World Cup 2010 qualifiers. This match is only a friendly.

My prediction;

England 3 - 1 Switzerland

Well here's the squad - surprise inclusion of Curtis Davies, but a welcome expected inclusion for Gabriel Agbonlahor!

Goalkeepers:

David James (Portsmouth)
Scott Carson (Aston Villa)
Chris Kirkland (Wigan Athletic)

Defenders:
Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Curtis Davies (Aston Villa)
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
Glen Johnson (Portsmouth)
Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)
Nicky Shorey (Reading)
Wes Brown (Manchester United)
Joleon Lescott (Everton)
Micah Richards (Manchester City)
Matthew Upson (West Ham United)
Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders:

Michael Carrick (Manchester United)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur)
Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea)
David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers)

Strikers:

Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
Michael Owen (Newcastle United)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

30 will become 23 by Saturday evening...

Great to see Bentley and Upson in the squad, and also great to see Lescott and Young keep their places!

And of course, brilliant to see Owen and Rooney both back in the fold!

interesting to see a few new faces here,i've not even herd of,but then i'm not a great follower of footie,just enjoy watching england play there best/in theroy.i hope beckham can pull some strings over this

As I said the other day, Capello has dropped seven players from the original 30...now leaving 23 ready for this week's international.

The seven players that have been dropped are in red:

Goalkeepers:

David James (Portsmouth)
Scott Carson (Aston Villa)
Chris Kirkland (Wigan Athletic)

Defenders:
Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Curtis Davies (Aston Villa)
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
Glen Johnson (Portsmouth)
Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)
Nicky Shorey (Reading)
Wes Brown (Manchester United)
Joleon Lescott (Everton)
Micah Richards (Manchester City)
Matthew Upson (West Ham United)
Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders:

Michael Carrick (Manchester United)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur)
Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea)
David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers)

Strikers:

Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
Michael Owen (Newcastle United)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Peter Crouch (Liverpool)


Just for the record, Heskey was dropped because of the injury he picked up in Wigan's win over West Ham today.

should be a game worth watching definately get the beers wednesday

BIG blow for Gabriel Agbonlahor - he pulled his hamstring during Villa's 2-1 defeat to Fulham today.

I feel really bad for him, he was sure to win his first cap this week too!

LATEST: Gabriel Agbonlahor has withdrawn from the England squad...with Portsmouth newbie Jermain Defoe drafted into the England line-up.

Good on him!

England 2-1 Switzerland

Solid start under the new manager. Could have been a lot better, but it was definitely a great start!

Can I just say the best goal of the game was from the Swiss - the lad was on his international debut and he slotted it in the net from outside the penalty box!

Kudos to Jenas too - his first ever England goal!

i was getting a little shaken at the end in the final mins of the game when the switz nearly potted a goal to make it 2-2 ,thank GOD that never happened. i think its next month now when england play to france? i think thats what i heard

totally different question here,but whens the next england friendly now?

England's next two fixtures:

England v USA (Wednesday 28th May)

Trinidad & Tobago v England (Sunday 1st June)

Both are obviously friendlies.

next question now is are they going to be shown live on mainstream tv or just sky? is there any more friendlys after that?

Hard to say becauseof Euro 2008 going on, but I believe a friendly with Brazil is on the cards for September...I reckon these games anyway will be shown on Sky.

oh right i don't get sky sports so its highly lightly i'll miss them, i wounder if they are doing the friendlys in a way that they would of done if they had gone to the euros anyway,just to keep the euro spirit there?