England National Football Team Match No. 783

England 2 Albania 0 [1-0]

Wednesday, 5 September 2001

England Pre-Match

All information is complete and includes England's match against Germany on 1 September 2001, the second of the 2001-02 season.

Notes

Sunday, 25 August 2001 - England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson announced a 25-man squad to face Germany in Saturday's World Cup 2002 preliminary match at Munich's Olympiastadion and Albania in a second World Cup qualifier the following Wednesday at St. James' Park in Newcastle.

There were several changes from the last squad, the 26-player squad Eriksson chose for the friendly match against Netherlands on 15 August 2001. 

The 24-year-old Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy was given his first call to the senior squad because injury ruled out Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt.

Eriksson gave recalls to four players.  Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman was recalled after he was rested against Holland so that the England staff could look at other goalkeepers.  Recalled following injury or fitness concerns were defender Sol Campbell, whose controversial close season transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to archrival Arsenal undoubtedly figured in the decision to leave him out of the squad for the Netherlands match, which was played at Spurs' home ground, Leeds midfielder Rio Ferdinand and Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman.

Three players who withdrew from the last squad because of injury were called once again:  Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard, Liverpool forward Emile Heskey and Manchester United defender Phil Neville.

Six players from the last squad were omitted.  Four players lost their squad places through injury:  Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt, who withdrew from the Netherlands squad with a knee injury, West Ham United goalkeeper David James and Arsenal defender Martin Keown, the two players hurt in a collision early in the second half of the Netherlands match, and Leeds United forward Alan Smith, who twisted his ankle in midweek action against Arsenal.  Two players were dropped:  Ugo Ehiogu, the Middlesbrough defender who was called for the Spain match in February and recalled for the Netherlands match, and Charlton Athletic defender Chris Powell, who had been summoned for all Eriksson's earlier squads.  

The squad contains only four forwards.  Eriksson did not summon a fifth forward to replace the injured Smith, although there had been speculation he would recall Teddy Sheringham, who has returned to action with Tottenham Hotspur following an Achilles tendon injury, or Sunderland's Kevin Phillips.  Nor were there recalls for Tottenham midfielder Darren Anderton, Chelsea defender Graeme Le Saux, Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour or Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp, who has yet to regain his first-team place following long-term injury. 

Manchester United midfielder David Beckham was called although he is struggling with a groin injury picked up in today's Premiership match against Aston Villa.

Owen Hargreaves, the 20-year-old FC Bayern München AG midfielder given his first call to the senior squad for the Netherlands match, was summoned once again.

Four players named to previous England senior squads were chosen once again for the under-21 squad:  Gareth Barry, Joe Cole, Francis Jeffers and Seth Johnson.  Michael Ball and Paul Robinson, who returned to the under-21 squad after brief stints with the senior squad, apparently remained unavailable for selection through injury.

Saturday, 1 September 2001 - The squad came through tonight's 5-1 victory over Germany without injury.

Tuesday, 4 September 2001 - Leeds United goalkeeper Nigel Martyn withdrew from the squad after tweaking his knee during training Monday.  He has returned to his club side for treatment in the hope he will be fit for Premiership action this weekend.  England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson summoned 29-year-old Leicester City goalkeeper Ian Walker to replace Martyn.  Walker, who has made three appearances for England, two of them as a substitute, earned his last cap in the 1-0 loss to Italy in the 1998 World Cup qualification match at Wembley Stadium in February, 1997.  His last England summons was to the squad named for the European Championship 2000 playoff matches against Scotland in November, 1999.  Since then, he lost his starting role at Tottenham Hotspur to Scotland goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, which sparked his move this summer to Leicester City, and David James and Ian Wright have been preferred as third keeper on the England squad behind David Seaman and Martyn.  James remains injured and Wright already is on the squad.  Paul Robinson, the under-21 keeper who figured briefly on the senior squad last season, also is injured.  Walker made only three starting appearances for Tottenham last season, all when Sullivan was suspended, and was himself suspended for the two season-opening matches in which Leicester City suffered heavy defeats. 

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PY/CG