England national football team: News, Opinion, and Commentary o… (@threelionsroar.com.web.brid.gy)

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05.05.2015 18:15 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Internationals Across Britain Stu Forster/Getty Images England's playing this week, but they aren't the only national team on the British Isles. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland - and while we are at it, let's throw in Ireland - all play matches this week. This week of international play sees a few important matches for the national teams across Britain. England, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland all play qualifying matches for next year's European Championships. It is expected that England breeze through qualifying and is already comfortably leading their group. However, Wales and Ireland are expected to be much tighter, so winning points in these matches is very important. Wales are second in their group behind Israel (their opponents this week) with Bosnia and Belgium slipping up in the early matches. Scotland and Ireland are both in a tough group with Poland and Germany. They sit in third and fourth, respectfully, with Scotland in position to go to an extra qualifying match. England is also playing an additional friendly against Italy. Scotland and Northern Ireland feature a single friendly match. In an interesting coincidence, they will be playing against each other. That match will be played later tonight in Glasgow. **England** _March 27_ vs. Lithuania. (Home) (Euro Qualifier) _March 31_ vs. Italy (away in Turin) (Friendly) **Wales** _March 28_ vs. Israel (away in Haifa) (Euro Qualifier) **Scotland** _March 25_ vs. Northern Ireland (home) (friendly) **Northern Ireland** _March 25_ vs. Northern Ireland (away in Glasgow) (friendly) **Republic of Ireland** _March 29_ vs. Poland (home) (Euro Qualifier)

25.03.2015 18:26 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

FA exploring 2026 World Cup Matthias Hangst/Getty Images Greg Dyke, the Chairman for the Football Association has suggested that England could host the 2026 World Cup. In recent comments, Greg Dyke, the FA Chairman, suggested that England were considering bidding for the 2026 World Cup. It appears that any bid would hinge on the influence of the FIFA British vice-president (yes, Britain gets it's own vice-president in FIFA. Inventing the sport and what-not, I suppose). Said vp, David Gill of England, was voted in on March 24th and will take the place of Northern Ireland's Jim Boyce. (Incidentally, the election came with some controversy, specifically from the Football Association of Wales.) With an Englishman in one of the senior FIFA positions, the FA are hoping they will be able to have a smooth and straightforward bid. However, there is one condition. Sepp Blatter can't still be running FIFA. Chairman Dyke explicitly stated > - we don't bid while Mr. Blatter's there. While a number of candidates have emerged for the FIFA presidency (including actual retired player, Luis Figo), Sepp Blatter is expected to win yet another term. In any case, it does not seem to be clear that England would even be allowed to bid on the 2026 World Cup. Current bidding rules restrict which confederations can host based on the last 2 tournaments. The 2022 World Cup will be held by Qatar, an Asian country, while the 2018 World Cup will be hosted by Russia, a fellow UEFA member. With the current rules, Russia would block any other European nation from hosting, including England. At the earliest, England would be able to host the 2030 World Cup. At the moment, Canada, Mexico, and Colombia have shown interest in lodging a bid for the 2026 World Cup, though it is unlikely that Mexico would win the rights to host a third World Cup. England, who last hosted the World Cup in 1966 (which they won), bid on both the 2006 and 2018 World Cups. Both bids ended in disaster, with England eliminated early in the voting process, losing out to Germany and Russia, respectfully.

24.03.2015 18:11 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Say Something Controversial: Don't Call Up Walcott Clive Mason/Getty Images Theo Walcott was recently called up to the English National Team for games against Lithuania and Italy. I don't understand why. Roy Hodgson named his 24-man squad for the Euro qualifier against Lithuania and the friendly against Italy. One of the players named was Theo Walcott, who plays for Arsenal. Walcott has struggled to play significant minutes this season due to injury, which makes his inclusion into the squad questionable. For many fans, there is already a debate of country vs. club, and call-ups of this sort merely encourage such divisions. When healthy, Theo Walcott certainly deserves to be in the national team. In the 2013 -14 season, Walcott played a mere 859 minutes in the premier league for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals in that time. That's 171 minutes per goal, or stated differently, a goal every two games. Very impressive considering he was in and out of the line up due to injury before being ruled out for the season in January with a ligament tear in his knee. Walcott is, when healthy and in form, quite simply one of the best offensive wingers in the world. However, while Theo is quite certainly a very good offensive threat, he is also very much injury-prone. As previously mentioned, Walcott missed out on most of the 2014 calendar year due to a knee problem. Walcott had been returning back to health when he had been called back in to join the national team for a pair of matches in November. Walcott did not play, but it appears he suffered some sort of set back. He did not appear again for Arsenal until the start of January. Walcott was also injured off-and-on at the end of 2013, as well as minor injuries in previous years. The point is, Walcott is fragile. The club supporters know this. Take a quick tour of The Short Fuse, SBNation's Arsenal blog, and you'll find frequent mentions of dissatisfaction with international play and the fear of player injuries. If Walcott's injured and still needs match fitness, what is he doing in the national team camp? Nobody expects him to play. Why is he traveling and training with the national team with players and coaches who are less familiar with him than those at his club? It quite simply does not make sense and I do not see how it is productive. Frankly, it's this sort of thoughtlessness that makes fans less enthusiastic about national team games. Club supporters, and I don't just mean Arsenal fans, are more worried about seeing their players get hurt than the national team, and can we really blame them with the FA and Hodgson's willingness to put players in risk?

23.03.2015 19:03 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

England Name Rosters for March Internationals Paul Gilham/Getty Images Roy Hodgson has named his squad for the upcoming matches against Lithuania and Italy. Of note is the inclusion of Harry Kane in his first call up to the senior squad. The English national team will be playing Lithuania in a European Championships qualifier in London on March 27, before heading to Turin, Italy to face the Italian national team on March 31. For those matches, Roy Hodgson has named 24 players. In general, there aren't exactly a lot of surprises. With Ben Foster out with a knee injury, Hodgson is down a 'keeper. Rather than call in Jack Butland to the senior squad, the manager decided to take the (awfully small) risk that his two goalkeepers get ruled out in favor of letting Butland play with the U-21 squad. In actually significant news, Harry Kane has been called up to potentially make his senior debut. The Spurs youth will be skipping time from the U-21's to see if his hot form with Tottenham might translate to the international game. With 26 goals for the North London side this season, Kane has quickly emerged as arguably the hottest English player in the league. However, it is to be seen how he would mesh with the national team and factor into the squad tactics. That said, it's hard to see a prolific goalscorer not get time. Kane joins Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, and Luke Shaw as U-21 players in the senior squad. Speaking of goalscorers, Theo Walcott will be returning to the national team, despite having had some serious time off due to injury. Walcott had been called in for the matches against Slovenia and Scotland, but after having been out for nearly a year, he did not play. It's somewhat surprising that Walcott had been called in as he's had minutes hard to find as Arsenal slowly transition him back from injury. Walcott is joined by fellow Gunners Kieran Gibbs and Danny Welbeck. Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did not make the squad due to injury. **Goalkeepers:** ****Fraser Forster (Southampton) Joe Hart (Manchester City). **Defenders:** ****Leighton Baines (Everton) Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton) Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) Phil Jagielka (Everton) Phil Jones (Manchester United) Luke Shaw (Manchester United) Chris Smalling (Manchester United) Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur). **Midfielders:** ****Ross Barkley (Everton) Michael Carrick (Manchester United) Fabian Delph (Aston Villa) Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Adam Lallana (Liverpool) James Milner (Manchester City) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur) Theo Walcott (Arsenal). **Forwards:** ****Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)

21.03.2015 06:32 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

England announces squad vs San Marino, Estonia Paul Gilham With two Euro qualifiers fixture coming up, Roy Hodgson has to make do without several key squad members. After a winning start against Switzerland last month, England will be hoping to go on a three-game winning streak as they face San Marino and Estonia in the upcoming international break. However, Roy Hodgson will be with our several key members of the squad heading into both games. In the back, Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker is not available due to injuries, while upfront, Daniel Sturridge is still missing after sustaining an injury in his last tour of duty with England. In the middle of the park, Ross Barkley is still out injured with a leg injury sustained just before the start of the season. This has prompted Hodgson to hand out call ups to several new names. Last month, Calum Chambers, Fabian Delph, Danny Rose, and Jack Colback got the call from the senior team, but only one of the four managed to make the squad this time around. Rose and Colback are not in the squad, while Chambers has been called up by the U21 (he has never played for the U21, making his debut with the senior team first). Delph has retained his place and will be joined by Jonjo Shelvey, the Swansea City midfielder was called up to the squad when he was playing for Liverpool, but has never made the squad since moving to Swansea in the summer of 2013. Judging by his improved performance since moving to south Wales, it's thoroughly deserved. In the back with Johnson and Walker unavailable, Hodgson has opted to select debutant Nathaniel Clyne, who has been impressive in his early season form. On the other flank, with Luke Shaw dropping back to U21 duty, Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs was called up, his first since October 2013. In midfield, Adam Lallana also returned to the squad after missing last month's matches to injury, he will be accompanied by Liverpool teammates Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, and Rickie Lambert. Daniel Sturridge's absence is a big blow for England, as he was England's most in-form striker throughout last season. However, in his absence, new Arsenal signing, Danny Welbeck scored a brace against Switzerland and has just bagged a hat-trick in Champions League against Galatasaray last night, so he will be roaring to go with high confidence. England will face San Marino in Wembley on October 9, before going to Talinn to play Estonia three days later. ##### FULL SQUAD ##### Goalkeepers Joe Hart (Manchester City), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Fraser Forster (Southampton) ##### Defenders Phil Jagielka (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Leighton Baines (Everton), John Stones (Everton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton) ##### Midfielders Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City), James Milner (Manchester City), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Andros Towsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) ##### Attackers Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)

02.10.2014 14:50 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

England U21 squad announced; Shaw in the 23 Laurence Griffiths Gareth Southgate has called for reinforcements from the senior squad. The international break is not just a chance for the senior side to perform, but also for the juniors. With the senior team having just begun their qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 in France, the young Three Lions is in the final stage of the qualification campaign with a two-legged tie against Croatia coming up. With that in mind, manager Gareth Southgate has announced the players that will play a part in those two crucial fixtures. Luke Shaw is one of the players that has been left behind by the senior squad, and has to drop back to the U21. Considering that he missed several games early in the season and the form of others in his position, it's only fair that the 19-year old found himself down one level. But he will be able to swap stories with Calum Chambers, the Arsenal defender was also in the senior squad last month but has been called up for U21 duty. For Chambers, this is his first time playing for the U21, whereas Shaw, has three U21 caps to his name. Other Premier League youngsters in the squad includes Saido Berahino of WBA, who has four goals in six appearances already this season (just one short of his total goals tally last season). Eric Dier, who went on an impressive goalscoring runs early in the season is in the squad along with Hull City's Thomas Ince and Tottenham's Harry Kane. Norwich City's exciting winger Nathan Redmond is another key player that has been called up. England U21 will host Croatia at Molineux on Friday next week before the return leg in Croatia the following Tuesday. The winner of the playoff will go to the U21 European Championship in Czech Republic next June. **FULL SQUAD** **Goalkeepers:** Jonathan Bond (Watford), Jack Butland (Stoke City), Sam Johnstone (Manchester United) **Defenders:** Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke Garbutt (Everton), Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough), Carl Jenkinson (West Ham United, on loan from Arsenal), Michael Keane (Burnley, on loan from Manchester United), Jamaal Lascelles (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Newcastle United), Liam Moore (Leicester City), Luke Shaw (Manchester United) **Midfielders:** Lewis Baker (Chelsea), Tom Carroll (Swansea City, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton and Hove Albion), Will Hughes (Derby County), Thomas Ince (Hull City), Alex Pritchard (Brentford, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) **Attackers:** Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough, on loan from Chelsea), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham)

02.10.2014 14:06 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

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