England & Holland World Cup Squads Announced

May 8th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

Two of the tournament big boys announced their provisional World Cup rosters today and both have a few surprises. Lame duck manager Sven-Goran Eriksson shed his conservative sheikh robes to include 17-year-old Theo Walcott on the England team. Wayne Rooney is also listed as one of the four forwards despite his metatarsal maladies. Says Sven of the Walcott selection, “Maybe it’s not logic, but somtimes things work out very well without logic.” That one might just go on my tombstone.

Not to be outdone, Netherlands coach Marco van Basten also delivered some interesting roster choices. Notably absent from the Dutch side are experienced players Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and Roy Makaay.

What do you think? When you see these two rosters do you see the next World Cup champion?

I don’t, but I do see two teams that have the potential to make some noise in Germany.

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Mesto

Walcott would be a fabulous choice if Rooney and Owen were healthy and he could just be at the World Cup to take in the experience. But if he is going to play….what a gamble!

Owen Hargreaves too. Canada represents.
Nathan

Walcott, man that Sven Goran Eriksson is a crazy fool’
Chris

Eriksson’s getting pounded for picking Walcott because the kid’s never played in a single game for Arsenal yet.

Arsene Wenger’s also getting some flak because fans think he’s persuaded Sven to take Theo.

Nobody knows at the moment because no one’s seen Walcott play, hope he comes off the bench in the Champions League Final.
http://ecuador.worldcupblog.org/ Trent

The Svenster should have picked Andy Johnson over Walcott. That’s my two pence.
http://usa.worldcupblog.org daryl

I think it’s a really brave move from Sven. As well as Walcott, he’s selected two quality young wingers in Downing and Lennon, so England’s midfield won’t be as flat as usual.
http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org Mike

Sure, the wingers are young, strong and exciting but will we even see them? What will it take for Sven to shove Beckham onto the bench. No Wes Brown either.
http://www.poo.com …

Makaay, Davids AND Seedorf? Thats Holland out of the cup dream…
http://spinachdip.blogspot.com spinachdip

“Makaay, Davids AND Seedorf? Thats Holland out of the cup dream…”

Why? None of the three figured that much in qualifying, especially in later matches. Makaay has been unproductive at Bayern – you could say the same for RvN, but he’s in a different class, and with the 4-3-3, Makaay isn’t essential.

Also, both Davids or Seedorf are known for being bad locker room influences, and given that they aren’t going to be stars, I figure Van Basten decided they weren’t worth the risk.
DT

Wenger is someone you need to listen to when it comes to young players.

After all, if it’s not because of Wenger, we probably wouldn’t know who Fabregas, Toure, Senderos, Flamini and Eboue are.