Fabio Capello has again left out Michael Owen for England's friendly with Holland next week.
Crouch and James also left out
Fabio Capello has again left out Michael Owen for England's friendly with Holland next week.
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 earn him a return to international duty.
However, after watching Owen in action at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, when Owen drew a blank in United's 2-0 win over Valencia, 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 the squad which instead includes Ben Foster, who also sat out the June double-header because of a thumb operation, 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.
Full 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).
