Stoke City defender Ryan
Shawcross and Everton left-back
Leighton Baines are both in the England squad for this week's
friendly against Egypt.
In a squad to face Egypt at Wembley on Wednesday notable for the
inclusions of Theo Walcott and Stewart Downing, and the exclusion
of Joe Cole, Shawcross' name
stands out.
That Fabio Capello made
reference on Friday of his intention to select a rookie central
defender to tackle the African Nations Cup winners only made the
timing of Shawcross' horror lunge at Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey as awful as the challenge
itself.
Capello and trusted assistant Franco Baldini even delayed the
announcement of their squad by 40 minutes to have one last
discussion about Shawcross' presence given the severity of the
injury Ramsey is thought to have suffered during Arsenal's win at Stoke.
But Shawcross' obvious remorse over the incident, for which he
was justifiably sent off, weighed heavily in the 22-year-old's
favour and Capello opted to stick with his original intention to
pick the Chester-born youngster.
England Squad:
James (Portsmouth), Green
(West Ham), Hart (Birmingham),
Brown (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Upson (West
Ham), Lescott (Man City), Shawcross (Stoke), Baines
(Everton), Warnock
(Aston Villa), Milner
(Aston Villa), Beckham, Walcott
(Arsenal), Lampard
(Chelsea), Barry (Man City),
Gerrard (Liverpool), Carrick
(Man Utd), Wright-Phillips (Man City), Downing (Aston Villa), Heskey (Aston
Villa), Defoe (Tottenham), Rooney (Man Utd), Crouch
(Tottenham), C Cole
(West Ham).