England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has named his initial 23-man squad for the EURO 2004 finals.
There are few surprises in the squad although the inclusion of Tottenham’s Ledley King and Liverpool’s Jamie Carrragher may cause a few eyebrows to be raised.
Joe Cole of Chelsea is also included, getting the call ahead of team-mate Scott Parker and up up front Aston Villa’s Darius Vassell is selected ahead of Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe and Leeds Alan SMith.
“Hopefully they will all stay fit and if they do I think we have a very, very good team,” Eriksson said.
“We’re good enough to win Euro 2004, provided if they all stay fit, though you need a little bit of luck to win a big tournament.”
Eriksson can make changes up until 2 June, but after that can only bring in new players if there are fresh injuries.
England’s Euro 2004 squad:
Goalkeepers: David James (Man City), Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Ian Walker (Leicester)
Defenders: Gary Neville (Man Utd), Phil Neville (Man Utd), Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), John Terry (Chelsea), Ledley King (Tottenham), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool).
Midfielders: David Beckham (Real Madrid), Paul Scholes (Man Utd), Nicky Butt (Man Utd), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle), Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Strikers: Michael Owen (Liverpool), Emile Heskey (Liverpool), Darius Vassell (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Everton).
Players on standby: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Richard Wright (Everton), Matthew Upson (Birmingham), Gareth Southgate (Middlesbrough), Scott Parker (Chelsea), Alan Smith (Leeds).
