Fabio Capello looks set to name Jamie Carragher in the England World Cup squad in an effort to solve his centre-back crisis (England 11/2 to win the World Cup).
The Liverpool central defender quit international football three years ago, but speculation has increased that Capello will name Carragher in his 30-man provisional squad on Tuesday.
Those chosen in the provisional squad are set to travel to a pre-tournament training camp in Austria and have warm-up games against Mexico and Japan, before the opening World Cup game against USA on June 12 (England 1/3 to win Group C).
Carragher made himself unavailable for England after expressing his disappointment at being played out of position, as he revealed in a radio interview in 2007: “I’ve never really played centre-half for England and, to be honest, I’ve never really played that well for England because I’ve played a lot of the time at full-back.
“If Steve McClaren’s chosen people ahead of me then I don’t think anyone can really complain if I would rather concentrate and save myself for Liverpool games.”
Carragher has been outspoken about his England career since quitting the international scene, making the following comments in his autobiography: “I confess: defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club.
“I wasn’t uncaring or indifferent, I simply didn’t put England’s fortunes at the top of my priority list. Losing felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity.”
It now seems that Carragher has been persuaded to reverse that decision, due to England’s potential problems at centre-back.
John Terry’s form has been hit by his much-publicised off-the-field controversies, while his potential replacement as captain, Rio Ferdinand, has suffered from injuries all season.
Tottenham’s Ledley King has been instrumental to their recent success, but his knee problems ensure that he rarely plays more than one game per week and he has yet to represent England under Capello.
Other potential candidates such as Wes Brown and Joleon Lescot are also injured, while Michael Dawson and Gary Cahill remain uncapped.
The final squad of 23 will be named on June 1, but any subsequent seriously injured players can be replaced up to 24 hours before England’s World Cup opener and do not have to have been named in the original 30-man provisional squad.
England also have selection headaches in central midfield, following the injury to Gareth Barry, with the likes of Michael Carrick, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker and Owen Hargreaves ready to deputise, should the Manchester City player fail to recover for the World Cup.
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