The Three Lions Squad for the matches against Finland and Albania  March 2001
Player	Birthdate	Age	Pos	Club	St	Sub	App	G	Capt
Beckham, David R.J.	2 May 1975	25	M	Manchester United FC	36	3	39	2	3	6 1
Brown, Wesley M.	13 October 1979	21	D	Manchester United FC	1	1	2	0	0	None
Butt, Nicholas	21 January 1975	26	M	Manchester United FC	6	5	11	0	0	None
Campbell, Sulzeer J.	18 September 1974	26	D	Arsenal FC	36	3	39	0	2	4
Carragher, James L.D.	28 January 1978	23	M	Liverpool FC	0	2	2	0	0	None
Carrick, Michael	28 July 1981	19	M	West Ham United FC	0	0	0	0	0	None
Cole, Andrew A.	15 October 1971	29	F	Manchester United FC	7	5	12	0	0	2
Cole, Ashley	20 December 1980	20	D	Arsenal FC	0	0	0	0	0	None
Cole, Joseph J.	8 November 1981	19	M	West Ham United FC	0	0	0	0	0	None
Ferdinand, Rio G.	7 November 1978	22	D	Leeds United AFC	7	5	12	0	0	None
Fowler, Robert B.	9 April 1975	25	F	Liverpool FC	7	9	16	3	0	1
Gerrard, Steven G.	30 May 1980	20	M	Liverpool FC	2	1	3	0	0	None
	Steven Gerrard withdrew from the squad on 25 March, due to a sore back.
Heskey, Emile W.I.	11 January 1978	23	F	Liverpool FC	3	10	13	2	0	None
James, David B.	1 August 1970	30	G	Aston Villa FC	3	0	3	1 GA	0	None
Lampard, Frank	20 June 1978	22	M	West Ham United FC	1	1	2	0	0	None
Martyn, A. Nigel	11 August 1966	34	G	Leeds United AFC	11	4	15	0	0	None
McCann, Gavin W.	10 January 1978	23	D	Sunderland AFC	0	1	1	0	0	None
McManaman, Steven	11 February 1972	29	M	Real Madrid CF, Spain	24	8	32	3	0	1
Neville, Gary A.	18 February 1975	26	D	Manchester United FC	39	4	43	0	0	2
Neville, Philip A.	21 January 1977	24	D	Manchester United FC	23	8	31	0	0	1
Owen, Michael J.	14 December 1979	21	F	Liverpool FC	17	9	26	9	0	2
Powell, Christopher G.R.	8 September 1969	31	D	Charlton Athletic FC	2	0	2	0	0	None
Scholes, Paul	16 November 1974	26	M	Manchester United FC	30	2	32	10	0	9 1
Seaman, David A.	19 September 1963	37	G	Arsenal FC	59	4	63	36 GA	1	1
Sheringham, Edward P.	2 April 1966	34	F	Tottenham Hotspur FC	30	9	39	9	0	3
Wright, Richard I.	5 November 1977	23	G	Ipswich Town FC	1	0	1	1 GA	0	None

All information is complete to and including England's last match, the sixth of the 2000-01 season, against Finland on 24 March 2001.

Diary

Sunday, 18 March 2001 - Sven-Göran Eriksson summons a 26-player squad for the World Cup 2002  matches against Finland and Albania. There are several changes from the unusually large 31-player squad Eriksson chose for his first match in charge. The only addition is Steven Gerrard, who was unavailable for selection to the last squad because of injury.  Five players have been omitted, Ugo Ehiogu, Ray Parlour and Kevin Phillips all dropped, and Nick Barmby and Kieron Dyer are injured. Michael Ball has joined the under-21 squad. Darren Anderton, Martin Keown, Jamie Redknapp and Trevor Sinclair, who is still uncapped, are all injured and so have not been called-up, whereas players such as David Batty, Paul Ince, Graeme Le Saux, Paul Merson, Stuart Pearce, Gareth Southgate and Dennis Wise have all been overlooked.

Thursday, 22 March 2001 - Goalkeeper David Seaman, who missed Arsenal's match against Aston Villa last Sunday because of inflammation of the back, is declared fit to play.

Saturday, 24 March 2001 - Midfielder Steven Gerrard is declared fit to start for England after a week in which he had at times been unable to train because of soreness in his back, one of several physical problems that have plagued him throughout his relatively brief career, apparently because his bone growth has outstripped his muscle growth.  The England squad has so far incurred no injury withdrawals ahead of their match against Finland this afternoon.

Sunday, 25 March 2001 - The pain in Steven Gerrard's back get the best of him and forces his withdrawal from the squad. The England coaching staff, after taking medical advice, have sent him home after he played the full 90 minutes against Finland yesterday and awoke this morning suffering from back soreness.  The withdrawal had been anticipated since Gerrard's physical problems have often prevented him from playing consecutive games within a few days of each other for his club side.

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CG/PY