As we approach June 11th, and the beginning of the World Cup, England will take on African opposition in a warm-up friendly at Wembley, in the shape of current African cup of Nations holders, Egypt.

It's been nearly 4 months since England last took to the field, and that was in a closely contested friendly with Brazil, in which an injury-hit England side were edged out 1-0 in Qatar in a spirited performance. So with World cup roughly 16 weeks away, this is one of 3 scheduled friendlies in our build-up to the eagerly anticipated World Cup in South Africa, with Mexico and Japan also scheduled for trips to Wembley in May.

It's fair to say that issues regarding England's national team have not avoided the press over recent weeks, with the off-the-field saga regarding John Terry and Wayne Bridge causing wide-spread debate on whether Terry should retain his England captaincy, or have it revoked. Fabio Capello set about making that decision quickly, and set about removing Terry as captain and appointing Rio Ferdinand as his replacement, a player of whom will miss Wednesday's tie through injury.

My humble opinion is that John Terry should've kept his England captaincy and led England out in June. You can't condone his actions, nor find them acceptable, but it's fair to say that can be said of many of England's squad, and it can't be denied our qualification period under the leadership of John Terry was a success. I just don't see a stand-out candidate of whom could've replaced Terry. Ferdinand has captain experience, but fitness is an issue, and I certainly wouldn't rule him out not being on the plane in June. Gerrard would probably be my second choice, but again, you can point out bad press he's received of late in the shape of fighting in nightclubs. David Beckham is unlikely to get the time on the pitch in South Africa to make him a viable option, and Wayne Rooney lacks experience as a captain, and the pressure of being made captain could potentially hamper his form in June, something we simply can't afford to happen. Nevertheless we have to support Capello's decision, he's a man of strong principles, a man whose drawn many comparisons to the great Sir Alf Ramsey for the presence his has brought to the England team since taking over, and I think it's fair to say the England support as a whole are more confident going into this tournament than we have in recent times.

So onto Wednesday, and the 24-man team named by Fabio Capello for the visit of Egypt. The notable absenties from the squad are current Captain Rio Ferdinand, left-back Ashley Cole, and winger Joe Cole whose recently made a return to the first-team picture at Chelsea following long-term injury.

The squad is as follows:

David James, Robert Green, Joe Hart; Wes Brown, James Milner, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Joleon Lescott, Ryan Shawcross, Leighton Baines, Stephen Warnock; David Beckham, Theo Walcott, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stewart Downing; Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Carlton Cole


One thing that has pleased me is the inclusion of Joe Hart, his form this season for Birmingham has been nothing short of fantastic, and he'd certainly be on my plane to South Africa in June. Another pleasing inclusion is Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross. Shawcross has shown commendable form this season and has been on the door of a call-up for a while. It's been a mixed weekend for Shawcross with his sending off and involvement in an horrific injury to Aaron Ramsey, but Shawcross is NOT a malicious player, the tackle was a complete accident, his reaction showed that, and I hope he gets a chance to prove his worth on Wednesday.

We also see the return of Aston Villa wide-man Stewart Downing, Downing is a player I have struggled to see the hype with, but you can't deny his form of late has been impressive, and whilst he lacks the pace and ability to beat a man that the likes of Lennon and Wright-Phillips can bring to the table, his distribution of the ball is a big asset.

The strikers pose no real suprise with long-term absentee Michael Owen continueing to struggle to regain full fitness, the 5 strikers show 3 recognised target-men in the shape of Carlton Cole, Peter Crouch and Emile Heskey, and I expect one of these 3 to partner Rooney in June, as the inclusion of a target-men tends to get the best out of Rooney, and allows England another dimension going forward.

The left-back situation is interesting, with Ashley Cole not guaranteed to be ready for the World Cup, and personal circumstances seeing Wayne Bridge remove himself from selection, the position is up for grabs, and the current two making the squad for this position, Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock must seriously fancy their chances of securing the position. Personally I would start with Warnock on Wednesday, he's a player I rate highly, and have done in his spells with Blackburn and Aston Villa.

You would expect Capello to experiment on Wednesday and try and give the bulk of his squad time on the pitch, so my predicted line-up would be:


Green

Brown - Terry - Upson - Warnock

Milner - Lampard - Barry - Gerrard

Rooney - Crouch


Very difficult to call as there is several contenders for several positions, but we'll see.


Ok now for our opponents, the current holders of the African cup of Nations. Egypt are a side that can not be taken lightly, their form throughout the African cup of Nations was impressive to say the least, and whilst they lack notable quality at the back, up-front their recognised strike-force of Hull's Amr Zaki and Dortmund's Mohammed Zidan is dangerous. Zaki is a player who draws his fair share of bad press for the way he conducted himself at Wigan and ultimately messed the club around, but make no mistake about it, he could prove a very shrewd piece of business by Phil Brown if he can get his head in the right place, and a player who can cause us real trouble of Wednesday. Zidan, for me, is one of the better players in Europe at the moment, and he's a player I expect to make a big move from Borussia Dortmund sooner rather than later. His strike-rate throughout football is creditable, and he can cover a number of positions.

And finally to my prediction for Wednesday's game. The England defence will have to be at their best to maintain the dangerous strike-force Egypt pose, and I expect the Africans to get on the score-sheet, but merely a consolation goal as England run out 4-1 winners.

Here's to a good performance and a morale boosting stepping-stone as we approach June.

GOOOOAARRRNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!