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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Piers Morgan picks his ultimate England XI as David Beckham and Steven Gerrard snubbed

Piers Morgan has named his ultimate England XI, which features the likes of Gary Lineker, Bobby Charlton and Paul Gascoigne.

However, there was no room for either David Beckham or Steven Gerrard.

Taking to Twitter ahead of England's opening Euro 2020 group game against Croatia on Sunday, Morgan named his all-time XI and included all four of the BBC's studio experts - Lineker, Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand.

Morgan opted for 1966 World Cup winner Gordon Banks in goal, selecting him ahead of the likes of Peter Shilton, David Seaman and Ray Clemence.

Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Sir Bobby Moore and Ashley Cole made up the back four, with England's World Cup winning captain joining three members of the so-called 'Golden Generation'.

In midfield, Morgan selected Lampard, Gascoigne, Paul Scholes and Charlton, with Beckham and Gerrard among the notable omissions.

Chelsea legend Lampard won three Premier League titles and the Champions League during his time at Stamford Bridge and he is currently tenth on England's list of leading goalscorers, having netted 29 goals in his 106 caps.

Gascoigne, meanwhile, starred for England at Italia 90 and Euro 96, with his performances in those tournaments cementing him as an England legend.

Scholes is widely considered one of the finest midfielders of his generation and he featured for England at four major tournaments, before retiring from international football in 2004 after Sven-Goran Eriksson played him out of position.

Charlton is the third and final member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team to make Morgan's XI, with the Manchester United legend second on England's list of leading goalscorers after netting 49 goals in 106 games for his country.

Up front, Morgan opted for Lineker and Shearer, who netted a total of 78 international goals during their time with England.

Who would make your all-time England XI? Comment below

Lineker netted six times at the 1986 World Cup to win the Golden Boot and he represented England at four major tournaments.

Shearer, meanwhile, won the Golden Boot at Euro 96 after scoring five goals as England reached the semi-finals.

England have never won the Euros and they are among the favourites at this year's edition of the tournament.

Both Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker made the cut (Owen Humphreys/NMC/Pool/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

They got off to a winning start against Croatia thanks to a goal from Raheem Sterling and they will take on Scotland on Friday in their second group game.

Speaking after the win, England boss Gareth Southgate was full of praise for Leeds star Kalvin Phillips, who assisted Sterling's winner.

"We watched him a lot the season before last in the Championship," Southgate said. "We were going to bring him in to the squad ahead of the Euros a year ago.

"He’s now had a year of Premier League football. He’s technically good and we also knew the athleticism today was going to be so important.

"We also needed to get tight to their midfield players and Mason [Mount], Kalvin and Declan [Rice] did that really well, along with the wide players helping out and taking up the right positions.

"Kalvin is a fabulous boy to work with. So unassuming and I thought his performance was outstanding.

"Two passes behind the defence in the first half were top level and the contribution for the goal summed his day up."

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