England takes on Egypt
The English football team are known as 'The Three Lions' Photo Credit: stevec77/Flickr
England will be appearing in the fourth successive World Cup final in South Africa after finishing top of group six. Under the guidance of Italian Manager Fabio Cappello, England managed to qualify with two games in hand and by scoring more goals than any other European team.
The Three Lions will take on Egypt at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday in their first match out of three friendlys to prepare for the World Cup. The choice of playing against the African champions is a smart pick since England will be playing Algeria, a group opponent in South Africa and also another North African team that shares similar qualities with Egypt.
The Pharaohs, the reigning African champions for the third consecutive time, will not be in South Africa, as they narrowly missed out after losing the specially arranged playoff in Sudan to their North African rivals Algeria.
Egypt coach Hassan Shehata will take on England with the same line up that won the African Cup of Nations in Angola late January. However Hull City striker Amr Zaki, who didn’t play in Angola due to injuries, will start for Egypt on Wednesday.
On Saturday coach Fabio Capello selected 24 men in his squad for the friendly against Egypt. Due to Ashley Cole’s (Chelsea) injury and Wayne Bridge (Manchester City) refusing to play for England because of his former Chelsea team-mate John Terry’s alleged affair with his former partner, the Italian manager selected two players to do the job. Either Leighton Baines (Everton) or Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa) will feature in England’s left back on Wednesday.
Steven Gerrard will captain England against Egypt, because Rio Ferdinand is injured and Capello sacked John Terry earlier last month.
England has drawn the United States, Algeria and Slovenia in Group C in the World Cup Group Stage.
England’s Squad against Egypt
Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham), Joe Hart (Birmingham).
Defenders: Wes Brown (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke), Leighton Baines (Everton), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).
Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), David Beckham (AC Milan), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), James Milner (Aston Villa), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Stewart Downing (Aston Villa).
Strikers: Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham).
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