Tuesday 25 March 2008

Garibaldi names England squad v Canada

England CSA head coach Marco Garibaldi has recalled Andrew 'Cezza' Corne in his 30-man squad for the Wembley friendly against Canada on Wednesday.

The Manchester Magic wingback, 24, has not featured for his country since June 2005, when he last appeared against Germany.

"I'm delighted to be back in the England frame again - it's been a long time coming," said Cezza.

"Obviously Mr. Garibaldi will straighten up the SOBS (Super Odd Boys) and get away from our WAGS (Wives and Girlfriends) just before big matches."

The previous two England CSA coaches Iain Greenwood-Smith and Niklas Erlingmark infamously banned SOBS from being involved in all England CSA squads.

Erlingmark had no problem with them, until it came to the CSA World Cup 2006. The Swede infamously told Cezza, Brian McGovern and Adam Wyngrove among others that "Super odd blokes aren't World Cup quality."

Greenwood-Smith said "These so called soccer popstars are too arrogant, cocky, selfish and two-faced to play for my England CSA."

Erlingmark resigned after successfully winning the World Cup, while Greenwood-Smith was lured back to club management at the end of last year, stepping into the Cardiff Dragons hotseat, becoming the club's first ever non-Welsh manager.

But Garibaldi insisted he will pick the best players SOBS or not.

"Great players are great players even if they're super odd guys, scums or cheats," said the Italian.

Veteran strikers Rocky Race (Melchester Rovers) and Karl Fletcher (Harchester United), who at a combined age of 64, are in the England CSA squad for the first time.

Another pair of fresh faces are Harchester midfielder Jason Porter, 20 and 21-year-old midfielder Danny Basingstoke of the East Anglia Knights.

Also in the team for the first time are Tony Butcher (Harchester United), Scott Chandler (London City), John Macdonald (London United), Dan Perry (Barnsworth), Ashton Reid (London United) and Steven Tweedy (Newcastle Geordies).

One of the surprise omissions is that of London United defender Dean Whitley.

Whitley, 24, was Mark Strickland's regular central defense partner last year.

For the record there are 24 MLF players compared to six E-Leaguers. The previous managers didn't bother to select E-League players in their squad, but Garibaldi checks out E-League and MLF football week in and week out, and for the first time there is a significant number of E-League players in the line-up.

There are nine London United representatives in the squad, but the only two teams who even come close to matching that are East Anglia Knights and Harchester United, who both only have three.

England CSA squad to face Canada

Goalkeepers:
Scott CHANDLER (London City, E-League)
Simon HERDING (London United, MLF)
Chris KOLINSKI (Reading Ruckus, MLF)

Defenders:
Tony BUTCHER (Harchester United, E-League)
Liam COLE (Newcastle Geordies, MLF)
Neil CRANDALL (Middlesbrough Monsters, MLF)
John MACDONALD (London United, MLF)
Gary MITCHELL (London United, MLF)
Dan PERRY (Barnsworth, E-League)
Ashton REID (London United, MLF)
Mark STRICKLAND (London United, MLF)
Dayve TOMLINSON (Leeds Lightning, MLF)
Steven TWEEDY (Newcastle Geordies, MLF)

Midfielders:
Danny BASINGSTOKE (East Anglia Knights, MLF)
Andrew 'CEZZA' Corne (Manchester Magic, MLF)
Craig Cohen 'CRAICO' (London United, MLF)
James DOUGLAS (FC London, MLF)
Bradley HATFIELD (FC London, MLF)
Ian PARKER (London United, MLF)
Jason PORTER (Harchester United, E-League)
Kevin SIMMS (Manchester Magic, MLF)
Kevin WARHURST (London United, MLF)
Darren WATKINSON (Middlesbrough Monsters, MLF)

Strikers:
Peter ELKINS (Ajax London, MLF)
Karl FLETCHER (Harchester United, E-League)
Brian NIXON (East Anglia Knights, MLF)
Roy 'Rocky' RACE (Melchester Rovers, E-League)
Edward REDWOOD (London United, MLF)
Hugo WATSON (East Anglia Knights, MLF)
David WRIGHT (Bristol Pirates, MLF)