Michael Owen has missed out on an England
recall.
Although Owen has not featured for his country since the
friendly defeat in France nearly 18 months ago, it was thought his
surprise summer switch to Manchester United might prompt a return
to international duty.
However, after watching England's fourth highest goalscorer in
action at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, when Owen drew a blank
in United's 2-0 win over Valencia, Fabio Capello has left him out
of his squad to face Holland in Amsterdam on Wednesday.
Instead, Owen's Red Devils team-mate Wayne Rooney is joined by
Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe and Carlton Cole to form a four-man
English strikeforce.
That means there is also no place for Peter Crouch, even though
the Tottenham new boy was part of the England side that overwhelmed
Andorra on their last outing at Wembley.
The other surprise absentee is David James.
James has been regarded as Capello's first-choice goalkeeper and
was expected to return after missing the World Cup wins against
Kazakhstan and Andorra after undergoing shoulder surgery.
However, even though James was part of the Portsmouth side that
tackled Rangers on Saturday afternoon, he is missing from Capello's
squad even though Ben Foster, who also sat out the June
double-header because of a thumb operation, is in, along with
Robert Green and Paul Robinson.
David Beckham will make the flight back from Los Angeles in
order to take part, while James Milner gets a place in the senior
ranks, although he seems unlikely to start in the Amsterdam
Arena.
England Squad:
Foster (Manchester United), Green (West Ham), Robinson
(Blackburn); Bridge (Manchester City), A Cole (Chelsea), Ferdinand
(Manchester United), Johnson (Liverpool), Lescott (Everton), Terry
(Chelsea), Upson (West Ham); Barry (Manchester City), Beckham (Los
Angeles Galaxy), Carrick (Manchester United), Gerrard (Liverpool),
Lampard (Chelsea), Milner (Aston Villa), Walcott (Arsenal),
Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Young (Aston Villa); Cole (West
Ham), Heskey (Aston Villa), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe
(Tottenham).