Fabio Capello refused to guarantee Jamie Carragher a place in his final World Cup squad of 23 despite the Liverpool defender showing his willingness to come out of international retirement by agreeing to be part of the England coach's 30-man provisional party.
As he has persuaded Carragher to make himself available after he retired from international duty in 2007, it is hard to see Capello not selecting the Liverpool veteran in his final squad when it is announced after the friendly with Japan in Graz on 30 May.
However, the Italian would not give Carragher any guarantees he would be on the plane to South Africa. Capello said: "He is one of the 30 players. During the training camp I will evaluate the performance of each player, after that I will decide."
Detailing how Carragher's return to the international fold came about, Capello said: "We started two months ago, we spoke with him, [Capello's assistant] Franco Baldini met him two weeks ago and he was happy to stay with us and we decided to select him. I selected him because he is a really, really good player."
Another player to make it into the 30-man squad is the Tottenham Hotspur defender Ledley King. Capello called King into his squad for the games against Slovakia and Ukraine in April last year, but once it was discovered the Tottenham man's chronic knee condition prevented him from training he was quickly returned to his club.
However, with the long-time squad members Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott ruled out by injury and doubts remaining over the first-choice central defenders, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, Capello has decided it is worth checking out the experienced Carragher and King once more.
Capello has no concerns about King's long-standing knee injuries. "We were monitoring him for a long time," the Italian said. "He is one of the best defenders in England. In the last 15 days he has played four games, I spoke with him about the knee problems and he said this season the knee was really good. The reason I selected him is that he's good, a really good defender."
Capello said he asked the Manchester United veteran Paul Scholes to consider a comeback but, unlike Carragher, the midfielder turned down the request. "Yes [I spoke to him] but it was up to him," Capello confirmed. "He said no, he preferred to stay with the family. But I tried, yes."
Capello has several possible injury headaches with question marks over the fitness of King, Gareth Barry and Wayne Rooney while Owen Hargreaves missed out due to a long-term problem. Asked about Barry, Capello said: "I decided this morning after meeting with Franco Baldini and the doctor. I decided to put him in the 30 because the next medical check will be 24 May and after this medical check we will decide what we can do. I hope after this he will be ready to start training. You have to wait."
On Hargreaves, Capello added: "I spoke to Owen twice in Manchester and he's not fit, not ready to play. He didn't play for 18 months and for that reason, I can't select him. He's a really important player when he is fit."
Capello insisted that, despite question marks over the fitness of several players, Barry is the only current doubt. "I am not concerned about these players," he said. "Yesterday I spoke for a long time to Sir Alex Ferguson and he told me Rio is fit, he can play, no problems.
"King is really good, I'm not concerned. We have to wait about the Barry situation but it is only this player."
The Italian said Bobby Zamora was unlucky to miss out. "It was one of the last decisions that I took," he revealed. "I spoke to him and it was up to him because he can't train every day, he plays always with injections and probably he needs an operation [on his achilles]."
One of Capello's wild cards is the Manchester City winger Adam Johnson. "He is a really interesting player," Capello said. "He played very well in the second part of the season with Manchester City [after his January transfer from Middlesbrough]. He's one of the younger players most interesting in the Premier League and I want to check him out during the training camp."
As he has persuaded Carragher to make himself available after he retired from international duty in 2007, it is hard to see Capello not selecting the Liverpool veteran in his final squad when it is announced after the friendly with Japan in Graz on 30 May.
However, the Italian would not give Carragher any guarantees he would be on the plane to South Africa. Capello said: "He is one of the 30 players. During the training camp I will evaluate the performance of each player, after that I will decide."
Detailing how Carragher's return to the international fold came about, Capello said: "We started two months ago, we spoke with him, [Capello's assistant] Franco Baldini met him two weeks ago and he was happy to stay with us and we decided to select him. I selected him because he is a really, really good player."
Another player to make it into the 30-man squad is the Tottenham Hotspur defender Ledley King. Capello called King into his squad for the games against Slovakia and Ukraine in April last year, but once it was discovered the Tottenham man's chronic knee condition prevented him from training he was quickly returned to his club.
However, with the long-time squad members Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott ruled out by injury and doubts remaining over the first-choice central defenders, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, Capello has decided it is worth checking out the experienced Carragher and King once more.
Capello has no concerns about King's long-standing knee injuries. "We were monitoring him for a long time," the Italian said. "He is one of the best defenders in England. In the last 15 days he has played four games, I spoke with him about the knee problems and he said this season the knee was really good. The reason I selected him is that he's good, a really good defender."
Capello said he asked the Manchester United veteran Paul Scholes to consider a comeback but, unlike Carragher, the midfielder turned down the request. "Yes [I spoke to him] but it was up to him," Capello confirmed. "He said no, he preferred to stay with the family. But I tried, yes."
Capello has several possible injury headaches with question marks over the fitness of King, Gareth Barry and Wayne Rooney while Owen Hargreaves missed out due to a long-term problem. Asked about Barry, Capello said: "I decided this morning after meeting with Franco Baldini and the doctor. I decided to put him in the 30 because the next medical check will be 24 May and after this medical check we will decide what we can do. I hope after this he will be ready to start training. You have to wait."
On Hargreaves, Capello added: "I spoke to Owen twice in Manchester and he's not fit, not ready to play. He didn't play for 18 months and for that reason, I can't select him. He's a really important player when he is fit."
Capello insisted that, despite question marks over the fitness of several players, Barry is the only current doubt. "I am not concerned about these players," he said. "Yesterday I spoke for a long time to Sir Alex Ferguson and he told me Rio is fit, he can play, no problems.
"King is really good, I'm not concerned. We have to wait about the Barry situation but it is only this player."
The Italian said Bobby Zamora was unlucky to miss out. "It was one of the last decisions that I took," he revealed. "I spoke to him and it was up to him because he can't train every day, he plays always with injections and probably he needs an operation [on his achilles]."
One of Capello's wild cards is the Manchester City winger Adam Johnson. "He is a really interesting player," Capello said. "He played very well in the second part of the season with Manchester City [after his January transfer from Middlesbrough]. He's one of the younger players most interesting in the Premier League and I want to check him out during the training camp."
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