Croatian squad announced

Another Villian in the World Cup!

Also included are the irrepressible Suker, Boksic and Mario Stanic.

 
Dyer in distress, Sven's plans in tatters

Looks like Matt Jansen will keep sitting by the phone!

 
Danny Mills has been described as one who has a "red mist come over him at times". Ah, the young lad'll learn over time!

 
BTW, lots of chatter about how Phil Neville didn't make it. I'm a little surprised as well, seeing that he's been in all of Svennies squads before this. On the other hand, I don't think he's "international class" as a full back, and Wayne Bridge still has his future ahead of him.

 
(Soccernet has the full squad list)

Heh... I'm quite proud of how close I was with my picks. The one I'm surprised by is Wayne Bridge. I thought Wes Brown was still recovering from injury, but he's an excellent player to bring with an eye on 2004 and 2006 (ditto Hargreaves, Cole and Vassell).

Unfortunately, no Jansen, maybe 2004, eh?

I didn't know Carragher was injured, and I would have had a wonderful time trying to figure out who could cover on the left (LeSaux, perhaps?) - Bridge is a good choice considering the "learning" aspect of this tournament for England.

And for the way-over 30's; Svennie makes it sound as if Keown is a first team player and Sheringham will probably feature in games where he wants a striker in the hole (i.e. they're not being brought as window dressing or, dare I said it, for "team morale").

 
Italian squad announced
Italy's announced their World Cup squad. No Baggio, but Del Piero, Totti and Maldini will be there to party.

 
Denmark squad named
The only people I recognise here are Helveg, Poulsen, Gravesen, Jensen, Tofting, Tomasson, Gronkjaer, Rommedahl, Sand and Lovenkrands.

Of the lot I think that only Gronkjaer and Tomasson are the ones to watch.

 
England need McManaman for world stage
A call from the Daily Telegraph to include McManaman in the squad, based on his big match temperament. The writer does admit, though, that his defensive qualities are lacking.

 
Jansen still in England frame

Aha! Obviously my attempts at forming a psychic connection with Svennie have paid off!

There is a soccernet prediction at the end of the article. They think that Wes Brown, Danny Mills, Wayne Bridge and Matt Jansen will make the squad, whereas Jamie Carragher, the two Neville brothers, and Martin Keown won't.

I'm happy if Wes Brown and Wayne Bridge make the squad (building for the future, you see), but think that you need Jamie Carragher in as a utility backup player. Danny Mills also suffers from get-yer-studs-in-itis.

 
World Cup Teams announced

Several countries have announced their World Cup squads:

• Ireland - I can't believe Gary Doherty didn't make the squad! However, it's hard to see who should have been left behind (Mark Kennedy, perhaps? But he's a left midfielder). I'm looking forward for Monster Man Quinn to wreak havoc!
  
• Germany - I don't know who half these players are, but I think Michael Ballack will be the man to watch.
  
• Brazil - Brazil coach Scolari left out Romario with the following words: ""The supporters have to realize that the Brazilian team has a coach. On the other hand, we seem to have 170 million Brazilians as coach of the side. And that cannot be.". Change 170 million to 60 million and 'Brazil' to 'England' and it still wouldn't be wrong!
  

 
Well, we now know that Arsenal have completed one-half of the double. More than that, it really looked as if some players were trying to catch the attention of their respective national coaches.

Desailly, Petit, Lampard, Ljunberg, Adams, Campbell, LeSaux and Henry looked quite good. LeSaux himself seemed to try to answer Englands left-hand side questions, although I think his defensive capabilities are questionable and Macca is better in attack.

All eyes now towards the yummy title decider on Wednesday evening!

 
Wonderful - don't know if anybody noticed, but this website got hacked. However, it was quite easy to republish it again.