The Tottenham striker Harry Kane has been called up to the England squad for the first time. Kane’s return of 26 goals in 42 matches has earned him a place in the 24-man party for England’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley on 27 March and the friendly against Italy in Turin four days later.
Daniel Sturridge, Fabian Delph and Kyle Walker are also named in the squad, but there is no place for Danny Ings, Ryan Mason or Charlie Austin. Rickie Lambert also finds himself excluded from the squad after struggling for first-team action at Liverpool this season, a decision that could signal the end of his brief international career. West Brom’s Saido Berahino has also lost his place in the squad.
England squad to face Lithuania and Italy http://t.co/YYfoEfqB0x pic.twitter.com/MW0fyoNE2T
— England (@england) March 19, 2015
The 21-year-old Kane, who has 10 Under-21 caps to his name, is the top English scorer in the Premier League.
“His rise has been fantastic since he broke into the Tottenham squad, he’s done so well,” said Hodgson. “It would have been much more of a surprise had he not been selected than him being selected and we’re delighted to welcome him to the fold and try and help him establish himself because he’s like a lot of the players in our squad.
“They are young but some of them have gone on, having been given their chance to really establish themselves and we hope that is going to happen for Harry as well. We do know quite a lot about him, not least of all from his work with the Under-21s. I worked with him myself for a period of two or three days when I took charge of the Under-21 team.”
Huge honour to be called up to the England squad! Very proud day for me and my family! Thank you all for the kind messages! #England
— Harry Kane (@hkane28) March 19, 2015
England’s meeting with Lithuania is their first at senior level, though they have played four times at U21s level with Kane scoring the only goal of the game in Kaunas in September.
Kane’s former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood said the striker had earned his call-up.
“It was impossible for Roy Hodgson to ignore Harry Kane,” Aston Villa’s manager said. “He’s done everything. We have to remember he wasn’t always one of our own at Tottenham. When I first put Harry in the team [Roberto] Soldado was on the bench and after 30 minutes if Harry hadn’t scored they’re singing for Soldado to come on. It took him time to win over the fans. They love him now and they are reaping the rewards. It’s great I resisted the temptation to get rid of him last January because perhaps he wouldn’t be the star he is for Tottenham.
“You knew the mentality desire and passion for the game was second to none. He has got tremendous self-belief. He doesn’t see anyone as competition to him, he just sees himself and is willing to improve. We don’t have to worry about him losing his head, getting too big for his boots, [he is] not that type of character. He knows there is a lot of hard work to do. He’s a little bit different to Shearer, there’s a little bit of Teddy Sheringham in there. If he can mould them together a little cocktail of Shearer and Sheringham he ain’t done bad.”
The exclusion of Ings, Kane’s Tottenham team-mate Mason and QPR’s 15-goal striker Austin came as something of a surprise as Hodgson had been expected to include more uncapped players in the party. The Burnley forward Ings had been tipped to make the step up from the Under-21s after a run of impressive performances but misses out, as does his Clarets team-mate Tom Heaton, with Hodgson opting to name only two goalkeepers in the squad.
Sturridge returns to the squad after missing the last five games because of a thigh injury he suffered at St George’s Park, which dented Hodgson’s relationship with the Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, while Aston Villa’s Delph is recalled after overcoming a shoulder injury.
There is no place for either Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand or Tottenham’s Danny Rose, despite Hodgson naming three left-backs in the squad – Luke Shaw, Kieran Gibbs and Leighton Baines – while Glen Johnson and John Stones also miss out.
England squad to face Lithuania and Italy
Goalkeepers Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Defenders Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders Ross Barkley (Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Forwards Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
CONFIRMED: @england's 24-man squad v Lithuania and @azzurri. Read more here: http://t.co/YYfoEfIbS5 https://t.co/QIAGaNtm7i
— England (@england) March 19, 2015
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