Manchester City's Joe Hart could be fast-tracked into the England squad after Fabio Capello revealed his frustration at an apparent lack of goalkeeping talent at his disposal in the full squad.
Capello handed the 37-year-old David James the number one position for his first match against Switzerland a fortnight ago, with Paul Robinson out of favour at Tottenham Hotspur. Scott Carson of Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic's Chris Kirkland were the other goalkeepers in the squad. The Italian, whose next match is in Paris on March 26th, has earmarked Hart as a future inclusion.
The head coach preferred to retain the City goalkeeper in the under-21 team for their qualifier against the Republic of Ireland, with Capello convinced the youngster would benefit more from competitive action than from a full debut in a friendly.
"Only 38 per cent of the players in the Premier League are English, so the pool is reduced," said the England manager. "I have had to reinstate a 37-year-old goalkeeper but I have spotted one in the under-21s who is very interesting."
Hart, who joined from Shrewsbury Town 21 months ago, has beaten off the challenge of the experienced Sweden international Andreas Isaksson and the youngster Kasper Schmeichel at Eastlands. The 20-year-old has been a regular since October and has established himself as the most promising young English goalkeeper.
While James has been the top flight's outstanding English goalkeeper this season, only four other Premier League clubs - Villa, City, Wigan and West Ham - would select English goalkeepers in their strongest sides. The others in the under-21 set-up are the United youth-teamer Tom Heaton and Joe Lewis of Peterborough United.
Meanwhile, the Spanish government is convinced their national team will be allowed to compete at Euro 2008, despite Sepp Blatter's threat to the contrary. The Fifa president has warned Spain they face a bar from international competitions if the government continue to pressure the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to hold an early election.
"The team qualified (for the tournament) on the field of play. I am sure they will compete," Spain's sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky said yesterday.
Earlier, Blatter had been blunt in his support for RFEF president Angel Maria Villar and his organisation. "If the Spanish government, through the CSD, continue to interfere in footballing affairs they will have to recognise that their clubs and national team will be excluded from international tournaments," he was quoted as saying in Spanish media.
"It would be tough, but it would only take six hours to call a Fifa emergency committee meeting to hear and decide upon Spain's exclusion. Spain would not be able to play at Euro 2008, and their clubs wouldn't continue in the Champions League or Uefa Cup."
