The new England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed that John Terry will travel to Poland and the Ukraine as part of his squad for the European Championship, while Rio Ferdinand will stay at home. Hodgson also underlined his determination to usher in a new generation of England players by including The Arse's eighteen-year-old winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in his Euro 2012 squad. Despite speculation to the contrary, Paul Scholes has not been tempted out of international retirement, while his team-mate Michael Carrick is not even on the standby list. The Liverpool Alabama Yee-Haws winger Stewart Downing and his team-mate Andy Carroll will also be travelling to the championships despite mixed seasons for their club following big money moves. Moscow Chelskia's Daniel Sturridge and the Stottingtot Hotshots winger Aaron Lennon are among those who have also missed out, although the former is one of five players on standby. With Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two group matches, Carroll, The Scum's Danny Welbeck and the Spurs striker Jermain Defoe will compete to start the matches against France and Sweden. Rooney will return for the final match against the Ukraine. As expected, the new England manager left Ferdinand out of his provisional twenty three man squad Рeffectively ending his international career. The former England captain Terry, who is facing a court appearance after the tournament in the face of claims that he racially abused Ferdinand's brother, the QPR defender Anton, has made the cut as one of seven defenders. Terry denies the charges. It was the FA's decision to strip Terry of the captaincy that led to the departure of Fabio Capello in February and created the vacancy filled by Hodgson earlier this month. The retention of Terry, who met with Hodgson on Monday at Moscow Chelski's training ground, and the absence of Ferdinand will ensure that the swirl of controversy that surrounds the Moscow Chelski FC player will continue for the duration of the tournament. Hodgson Рappointed earlier this month with just weeks to spare before England's opening game of the tournament against France in the Ukraine on 11 June Рhas also selected Downing despite the winger's underwhelming first season with the Merseyside club. And his seeming inability to cross a ball, a bit of a drawback in any winger. While not quite as much of a surprise as Sven-Goran Eriksson's selection of Theo Walcott Рalso in today's squad Рfor the 2006 World Cup, the wildcard pick of Oxlade-Chamberlain will divide opinion. Despite winning plaudits for his speed and skill, Oxlade-Chamberlain has started only six matches in the Premier League and Ars̬ne Wenger has used him sparingly. Neither Lennon nor Carrick have even made the standby list, while Jordan Henderson Рyet another who has had an indifferent start to his Liverpool Alabama Yee-Haws career Рis one of five on the list. England face two warm-up games before their first match against France, playing Norway in Oslo on 26 May and Belgium at Wembley on 2 June. Hodgson this week appointed Gary Neville as a coach on his backroom staff.
