Rooney, Owen in England squad - teenager Walcott as well (Roundup)

May 8, 2006, 16:00 GMT

London - Wayne Rooney was included as expected despite his fractured foot and untried teenager Theo Walcott also made England's provisional 23-player squad for the World Cup finals in Germany unveiled on Monday by coach Sven Goran Eriksson.

Rooney fractured his foot on April 29 while playing for Manchester United against champions Chelsea in the Premier League, but Eriksson said he will take the star player to Germany even if he can't play from the first match onwards.

Rooney is one of just four forwards in the squad, joining the inexperienced 17-year-old Arsenal player Walcott, the not fully fit Newcastle man Michael Owen and Liverpool's Peter Crouch.

'I think Michael Owen will be 100 per cent fit to train with us from Monday. Rooney, it is just to wait and hope and see,' said Eriksson.

Walcott is uncapped and hasn't even played a Premier League match, but Eriksson said he was ready to take the risk.

'It's a big gamble, I know it is. I am excited to see him, he's a big talent. And pace in football today is worth a lot,' he said.

'Sometimes you do it on feelings as well and I am excited about Theo Walcott.'

Surprise nominees included Stewart Downing from UEFA Cup finalists Middlesbrough and midfielder Owen Hargreaves from freshly crowned German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, who along with captain David Beckham (Real Madrid) is the only player based abroad.

'I am delighted to be a part of this great English team. The World Cup in Germany is one of the highlights of my career. We are among the favourites and will do our best to justify this,' said Hargreaves, whom Eriksson came to watch last week in a Bundesliga game.

Eriksson said: 'For me it's a good squad, an interesting squad. There are some new players, some young players and it is an attacking squad with a lot of pace which is necessary in a World Cup.'

Jermain Defoe, Ledley King, Darren Bent and Shaun Wright-Phillips were among those unlucky to be left out.

'This morning I talked to those players. It was sad to not pick people but we had to make a decision,' Eriksson said.

'Ledley King is injured and he can't train. If you talk about centre-halves we are very well covered, so taking another one half-injured when we have so many good ones it is not a good idea.'

Bent said he was gutted to miss out.

'I am obviously really disappointed,' he said on his agents' website.

'I wasn't taking anything for granted but I was very hopeful of being included. All I can do now is go away on holiday and recharge my batteries.'

Eriksson also nominated five stand-by players in the form of Scott Carson (Liverpool), Luke Young (Charlton Athletic), Nigel Reo-Coker, Jermain Defoe (both West Ham United) and Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace).

The final squad list of 23 must be handed in at the world governing body FIFA by May 15. England play in group B at the World Cup alongside Sweden, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago.

Provisional squad

Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur), David James (Manchester City), Robert Green (Norwich).

Defenders: Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand (both Manchester United), Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole (both Arsenal), John Terry (Chelsea), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Wayne Bridge (Fulham).

Midfielders: David Beckham (Real Madrid), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard, Joe Cole (both Chelsea), Michael Carrick, Jermaine Jenas, Aaron Lennon (all Tottenham), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough). Strikers: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Michael Owen (Newcastle United), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal).