Capello Announces England World Cup Squad

Just as he was four years ago Theo Walcott is again the big surprise.

England boss Fabio Capello today announced the final 23 man squad for the trip to South Africa. With an abundance of talent at several positions it couldn’t have been easy for the Italian.

The big surprise was Arsenal midfielder Theo Walcott, whose omission this time may not be quite as shocking as his inclusion four years ago, but it's a big surprise nonetheless. Others left at home will raise an eyebrow or two, as might a few of the players selected for the trip to South Africa.

So first take a look at who’s in the squad; then we’ll look at the left-behinds.

In…

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham)

Defense: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

Midfield: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

Like you and me, these fellows will be watching the World Cup on the telly:

Theo Walcott. The midfielder played well against Mexico last week, though not so well against Japan.He’d be a fine alternative to Aaron Lennon on the right side of the attack, but the boss seems to have backed Shaun Wright-Phillips instead.

Leighton Baines. The Everton left fullback has the defensive skills of a journeyman pro, but he’s no Ashley Cole. Neither is Stephen Warnock, but the West Ham man gets the World Cup call-up and will likely deputize for Cole if necessary.

Adam Johnson. Another right side wing half. The Manchester City man’s skills were obvious the moment he transferred to City in January, but Capello clearly feels he has the right wing covered with Lennon and Wright-Phillips.

Darren Bent. With 24 league goals for Sunderland this season the exclusion of the high-scoring Dent raises an eyebrow. Capello’s strike force of Crouch, Heskey, Rooney and Defoe appears to favor an aerial assault supported by ground troops. No room for a fifth striker in Capello’s view.

Tom Huddlestone. The Tottenham midfielder is a good passer of the ball and can strike it with conviction, too. But his natural hunting grounds are occupied by world-class players such as Gerrard and Lampard, honest grafters like Milner and Barry, as well as Carrick, who on his day is a cool distributor of the ball who can also shoot. Huddlestone's lack of international experience likely worked against him, too.

Scott Parker. Another midfield man with good skills but whose star is eclipsed by others who play his position. His heroics for West Ham late in the season did his candidacy no harm, but in the end his obvious qualities simply don’t measure up to those of the other England midfield men.

Michael Dawson. He had a good season in the Tottenham defense and despite his relative inexperience at international level it must have been a tough decision to leave Dawson out. Capello clearly opted for experience at the back.