England now only have a handful of non-competitive fixtures with which to finalise their plans for this summer’s Fifa World Cup finals in Brazil, starting with the visit of the Danes to the home of football on Wednesday night.
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England head coach Roy Hodgson has named his Three Lions squad for next week’s friendly international with Denmark at Wembley Stadium and there were a number of players who can count themselves more than a little fortunate to have received the call ….
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
With the veteran Chelsea left back having barely featured all campaign long for the west London club, the 33-year-old can consider himself to be extremely lucky to be included in Hodgson’s plans for this pre-World Cup friendly at the home of football on Wednesday night.
As while the 33-year-old has been a rock-solid presence on the left-hand side of the England back four for the past 13 years, Cole has found himself in the totally unique position so far in this campaign of warming the substitutes’ bench at Stamford Bridge.
And so with just 20 games in total in all competitions under his belt, 13 of which have come in the Premier League, Cole is a lucky man to be have been called up.
Tom Cleverley (Manchester United)
The Manchester United attacking midfielder has been hugely off form of late for the Premier League champions, with the youngster’s off-colour displays in the centre of the Red Devils’ midfield a symbol of the top-flights giants’ on-pitch decline under new head coach David Moyes.
And while the 24-year-old was initially very much an automatic selection under England manager Roy Hodgson, especially in the Three Lions’ early round of qualifiers for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in Brazil this summer, Cleverley then soon began to drop out of contention as Hodgson went with other options in midfield.
However, that was when the player was on form for both both club and country, whereas currently the Englishman is struggling badly for confidence, so much so that Cleverly is more than a little lucky to get given the nod for the friendly with Denmark next week.
Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC)
The former Tottenham Hotspur front man’s inclusion is a reflection of England head coach Roy Hodgson’s dire shortage of high quality strikers, otherwise there is surely no way in the world that the 31-year-old would have earned his callup to the Three Lions squad for next week’s friendly international with Denmark at Wembley Stadium.
Defoe officially moves to Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Toronto FC on Friday, however, the attacker has barely kicked a ball in anger for the north London club in recent weeks after his new employers from across the Pond had agreed to loan the player back to Spurs until the MLS season restarts next month.
Either way, however, the pocket-sized attacker is an extremely lucky man to have been selected as one of Hodgson’s six marksmen who will be on show at the home of football next week just the solitary strike in the Premier League for the north Londoners all campaign long.
Michael Carrick (Manchester United)
While the experienced Manchester United holding midfielder’s name may have been a regular feature in England head coach Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions squads ever since he took charge of the national team on the eve of the 2012 European championship in Poland/Ukraine, there is a big case to have been made for excluding the 32-year-old for next Wednesday’s friendly international with Denmark at Wembley Stadium.
As not only has the defensive midfielder only recently returned to action with the Premier League champions following a long layoff with a niggling Achilles’ tendon injury, but when the player did finally make it back into the first team picture at Old Trafford, Carrick has looked way off the pace, like many of his Red Devils team-mates in fact.
And with central midfield the one area of the team where Hodgson is more than covered with top-level options, the England manager could have opted to perhaps go with a different, new, face to try out in this non-competitive fixture, especially with the World Cup finals now just around the corner.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Again, similar to with his midfield partner Carrick, there must have been some consideration given by England manager Roy Hodgson to not selecting the veteran Chelsea holding midfielder for next week’s friendly international with Denmark.
The Three Lions boss hardly needs telling what the 35-year-old can offer him in Brazil this summer, while the Englishman barely gets to start a game for the west London club these days in any case.
And so as a result, Lampard is a lucky man to have got the nod when really Hodgson could have used the visit of the Danes to experiment.