Signalling that inevitable rise of vaguely optimistic semi-final whispers, England’s 23-man squad for the World Cup in Brazil has now been announced.
The squad named by manager Roy Hodgson is palpably different to the ‘golden generation’ efforts before it, with Hodgson electing for a youthful batch of talent as much of experience - Southampton's Luke Shaw, his club chum Adam Lallana, Everton's Ross Barkley, Liverpool's Raheem Sterling; each one coming into the tournament on a tremendous run of form.
We'll get a first glimpse of the Three Lions squad in action when they line up against Peru at Wembley on 30 May, then a week later with other warm-up friendlies against Honduras (4 June) and Ecuador (7 June) in Miami, before they land in Brazil for those all-important tussles with Italy on 14 June, Uruguay on 19 June, and Costa Rica on 24 June.
Just another 30 days, 10 hours, 15 minutes and 20 seconds to wait before it all kicks off - not that we’re counting or anything.
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Fraser Forster (Celtic).
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (England), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United).
Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
Attackers: Rickie Lambert (Southampton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United).
Standby: John Ruddy (Norwich City), Jon Flanagan (Liverpool), John Stones (Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Andy Carroll (West Ham United), Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC).
(Images: Nike)
