Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Should Capello bring Carragher out of England retirement?
Is Fabio Capello so short of defenders that he has to beg Jamie “I’d rather miss a penalty for England than Liverpool” Carragher to come out of retirement and represent his country at the World Cup?
Carragher walked out on England three years ago because he was unhappy at being in so many squads but so few teams, and when he was in he did not like being played at full-back when he wanted to play centre-back.
Capello names his provisional 30-man squad on Tuesday and the latest round of media speculation is that the 32-year old will be in it.
For those who feel playing for their country should be the ultimate honour, it will be tough to take. Carragher loves playing for Liverpool and wears his heart on his long red sleeve but he said himself via his autobiography that the passion dries up when he dons the white of England. After missing a penalty in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against Portugal he said he did not share the emptiness of his team mates. “I confess, defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club…I simply didn’t put England’s fortunes at the top of my priority list. You can’t make yourself feel more passionate if the feelings aren’t there.”
Lippi and Capello get grief for two very different reasons
Italy coach Marcello Lippi probably expected to be grilled for again overlooking Antonio Cassano, but England counterpart Fabio Capello may not have foreseen the furore surrounding him actually picking a player.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Ledley King has a chronic knee problem which prevents him training yet Capello still deemed the centre back good enough for an England squad recall for the friendly with Slovakia and World Cup qualifier with Ukraine.
