The England manager Roy Hodgson has said that he has called up a number of young players for the friendly match against Sweden in the hope that they will be able to outperform the older players and qualify for the 2014 World Cup in style. England will be playing against Sweden in a friendly match, and the England manager has decided to omit a number of high-profile first-team players partly because of injuries. The Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and the Arsenal midfielder Theo Walcott will be amongst the high-profile names absent from the squad. In their place, Roy Hodgson has included the three young strikers in the form of Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck, and Zaha.
This is the first time that the Crystal Palace winger Zaha has been included in the squad. Many have been raising eyebrows, but it is due to the excellent performances shown by the 20-year-old in the Championship according to the England manager. He has said that it is highly unlikely that a number of players like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard will be at the peak of their careers when the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off. Hence, he has challenged the likes of Zaha to replace these players.
“There’s no doubt we’re going to see a vast improvement over the coming ten years, and I think you see it already if you look at the young players that are coming through today. Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck, Cleverley, Bertrand, Gibbs, Wilshere – in all of these players you can see that technically they are of a very good level. It can only get better,” said the England manager ahead of the friendly match with Sweden. England have made a great start to the World Cup qualifying campaign and they are undefeated in the matches played so far.