A footballer is hit by a rocket fired by opposition supporters

A football player was hit by a firework launched by opposition fans moments after the whistle was blown at the end of a cup final match last night.

Conor Hagan fell to the ground after being struck in the back by the rocket before it exploded.

His team Linfield had just suffered a 2-1 defeat by sectarian rivals Cliftonville in the County Antrim Shield final at Windsor Park in Belfast.






The attack, which sparked riots afterwards, came as players for Cliftonville, a largely Catholic-supported side, had missiles thrown at them by fans of the losing side, which is typically followed by protestants in the divided city.

Hagan, 26, was tended by team medics and members of both sides before being able to regain his feet.

'I was lying on the ground disgusted with the result and didn’t see the firework coming,' he told the Belfast Telegraph.

‘It hit me on the back when it went off and it was more the bang that scared me and I was in shock for few seconds.






‘It could have been a lot worse so I am relieved that I am not injured.’

The attack came as many people in the province - like the rest of the UK – prepared to celebrate Bonfire Night tonight.

Fireworks have been on sale at major supermarkets for weeks in preparation for the event.

Afterwards, police were called to riots between fans of the two sides in the Newtownards Road area of East Belfast.

Linfield manager David Jeffrey said: ‘The last thing that I want to do is inflame the situation.

‘I don’t want to talk about one idiot, but it has got to be condemned outright.’

Cliftonville coach Eddie Patterson, who was the subject of a death threat before the Irish Cup semi-final last season, also condemned the incident.

‘I don’t even want to highlight it that much - it only gives these people publicity. It has no place in football.

‘Some of my own players had missiles thrown at them, but I would rather talk about the Linfield fans who applauded us off the pitch. That’s what football’s about.’

Dundee United's clash with Rangers called off as a mark of respect after chairman Eddie Thompson loses cancer battle

Dundee United's match against Rangers on Saturday has been postponed as a mark of respect following the death of Tannadice chairman Eddie Thompson.

Thompson, 67, lost his fight against prostate cancer in the early hours.

United said they were 'devastated' by the death of one of their most loyal backers who was 'a very close and inspirational friend'.








Thompson won much admiration in the football world and was seen as a champion of the smaller clubs in the Scottish Premier League.


Despite his debilitating illness over the past few years, he continued with his duties at Tannadice as long as he could.

He also insisted on supporting his team in person as much as possible, both home and away.

The club said in a statement on their website, www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk: 'It is with great sadness that Dundee United announce the death of chairman Eddie Thompson, who died today after a long illness borne with great fortitude, much bravery and a dogged determination to carry out his responsibilities at Tannadice for as long as possible.'

The news comes only three days after the death of his son-in-law Ken Mitchell, 38, who died in a motorcycle accident.

Thompson had been battling cancer over the past few years and received specialist treatment at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.

But despite these efforts, the disease could not be prevented from spreading.

He is survived by his wife Cath, children Justine and Stephen and four grandchildren.

Born in Glasgow in 1940, he moved to Dundee in 1964 and began to support the club.








He was a trained accountant and successful businessman and was keen to bring these business links to bear at Dundee United.

Thompson became chairman and owner in September 2002 after acquiring a majority shareholding.

Since that day, he has ploughed millions of pounds of his own money into Dundee United.

In June 2007, the club was mired in record levels of debt, which stood at £2.7million. By June 2008, this had turned into an operating profit.

But despite his financial backing and business-like approach to handling the side, he saw himself above all as a supporter and believed Dundee United fans were the club's true owners.

He was once quoted as saying: 'You can change your wife, your house, your car, but you can never change your team.

'Chairmen come and go, boards come and go, but the fans remain. They are the one true constant.'

One of the stands at Tannadice was named after him earlier this year and thousands of Dundee United fans wore "One Eddie Thompson" T-shirts at this year's CIS Cup final.

Motherwell chairman John Boyle paid tribute to Thompson as a champion of the smaller clubs in Scotland's top flight.

'He fought for his club, he was so enthusiastic and so passionate,' Boyle told BBC Radio Scotland.

'He was an inspiration to us.

'There was absolutely no question that, as he said, he was the custodian for the fans.

'Dundee United went through a very, very turbulent time and he was a bit of stability for the club.

'They have achieved marvels in the last six or seven years, largely due to his influence. The players, the manager and the fans all looked up to him so much.

'He has left the club in a tremendously good nick.

'He fought for all of the smaller clubs. He was a director of the SPL for many years and everyone will tell you, they may have disagreed with him, but there was enormous respect for him."'

Mike Barile, associate director of the Dundee United supporters' group Arab Trust and a close friend of Thompson, described him as 'just a lovely, lovely man'.

Barile said: 'Eddie was so passionate about his football team, and through his hard work and determination he proved his doubters wrong and turned things around here.

'He was a real workaholic and that explains a lot of his success in business - once he decided what he wanted to do that is what he did.

'But at the same time he also allocated time to his wife and family, and I can remember my wife once remarking about what a gentleman he was with Cath.

'Whether Eddie was speaking to a taxi driver or whoever, he gave that individual his full attention and was genuinely interested in them - that was a remarkable gift.'

Two-goal Gerrard relishes his return to France as Liverpool ease to victory in Marseille

The locals like to think they can intimidate visiting teams with their firecrackers and constant din, but Steven Gerrard clearly has a liking for Marseille.

One of Michael Owen's Liverpool milestones came to grief on Gerrard's previous visit here last December. He scored in a 4-0 rout and, in the process, became his home club's record marksman in Europe.

It was a lot tighter on his return, but there was still no mistaking his relish for the occasion and surroundings as he launched Liverpool's latest Champions League campaign in style with two goals.









Marseille skipper Lorik Cana had increased the noise level inside their concrete bowl of a ground with a 23rd-minute opener when Gerrard decided it was time to take charge with an inspired curling finish in the 26th minute and twice-taken penalty shortly after. That left him on 99 goals for Liverpool overall, 27 of them coming in Europe.

Liverpool almost paid for allowing carelessness to creep in near the end as Mamadou Niang somehow headed wide from six yards, then compounded his misery in injury time with another glaring miss.

Credit Pepe Reina for sticking out his right boot and pulling off a crucial save, but the Liverpool keeper should not have had a hope as the normally lethal front-runner took aim from no more than eight yards.






Rafa Benitez refused to point an accusing finger at the way his side almost threw away the winning start he had demanded, as he said: 'Marseille were looking dangerous in attack and maybe we were feeling a little tiredness in the closing minutes but I have to be really pleased. Atletico Madrid and PSV Eindhoven are going to find it difficult here, so to come away with three points is really important.

'We needed to work really hard in defence and make the most of our counter-attacks and I thought Stevie's first goal was fantastic. But what I really liked was his reaction at the end. He felt there was room for improvement from everyone and that is a positive sign for me.'

Marseille are still unbeaten in the French League after launching their campaign with eight goals in their first two games. It was easy to see why as Niang blazed over after bursting clear in the 14th minute and Cana broke the deadlock nine minutes later.


The Marseille captain timed his run to perfection to beat Liverpool's offside trap as he latched on to Benoit Cheyrou's through-ball and held his nerve to slot the ball past the advancing Reina.

Liverpool have made a welcome habit of recovering swiftly from such setbacks this season and they were back on terms in the 26th minute after Fernando Torres won the ball in the centre circle and released Dirk Kuyt on the right. An early ball towards the surging Gerrard and Liverpool were on terms, as a superb curling first-time shot from 20 yards floated beyond a bemused Steve Mandanda and into the far corner.

Ryan Babel, influential with some of his approach work but again infuriating with his finishing, earned the penalty as he brought down a long ball from Jamie Carragher and swept past hapless centre back Ronald Zubar, who could only floor the Liverpool forward with an outstretched leg.

If Gerrard's opener was a product of instinctive brilliance, his second six minutes later was down to nerves of steel as he slotted his kick in off a post, only to be ordered to take it again by referee Konrad Plautz. By the time he gathered his thoughts and composed himself once more, a good two minutes had elapsed after the Austrian official had pointed to the spot. It made little difference as Gerrard, in his first start since groin surgery, unerringly drove the ball into the same corner.

Babel squandered two inviting chances in the 75th and 78th minutes, driving one point-blank shot against Mandanda's outstretched gloves and the other against the outside of a post. It looked like proving costly as Marseille sensed a reprieve.

In the end, the let-off was Liverpool's as Niang failed to cash in and Gerrard was clearly perturbed by the way his side surrendered the initiative. He said: 'They pinned us in for spells in the second half and we were hanging on at the end.

Being under pressure like that is something we are going to have to look at. We stopped playing in the second half and never passed it. 'We were not good enough, but we are a force in Europe and even when we don't play well throughout a game, we still get the results.'

Marseille manager Eric Gerets looked crestfallen as he fumed: 'We had more than enough clear-cut chances to have won and it feels like a real missed opportunity.

'It was incredible to lose like that and it makes me really angry. Not many players could have scored that first goal of Liverpool's, though. It was an exceptional piece of skill from a truly world class player.'

Barclays monthly awards go to Chelsea's Deco and Middlesbrough's Southgate

Chelsea playmaker Deco has been named Barclays Player of the Month for August with Middlesbrough's Gareth Southgate picking up the managerial award.

Following his £8million summer transfer from Barcelona, Deco has made a seamless transition to life in the Barclays Premier League with two goals - both brilliant long-range efforts - and two assists in three matches.

Southgate has been named manager of the month for the first time in his career - in the process becoming only the second man, after Stuart Pearce, to win the player and manager awards.





Boro have won six points out of nine so far, beating Tottenham and Stoke at home and only losing at Liverpool due to a Steven Gerrard strike deep into injury-time.

Southgate said: 'I feel it's a great honour, not just for me, but for everybody at the football club.

'It's an honour I very much accept on behalf of myself and my staff because everything that we have achieved so far has been a team effort.

'I think the award is reward for the hard work everybody here put in during July to prepare for the new season.

'We have a really united club here and everybody has pulled together, and in that I include the players as well.

'There's a great atmosphere around the club at the moment and around the town, and long may it continue.'

Southgate is starting his third year in charge at Boro and has guided the club to their best start to a campaign for nine years.

I hope to be as successful with West Ham as I was with Chelsea, says new Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola

Gianfranco Zola has promised to give the West Ham squad the full benefit of his 20 years in football after being named as the club's new manager.

Italy and Chelsea legend Zola has agreed a three-year deal at Upton Park, replacing Alan Curbishley, who resigned earlier this month in disagreement with the Hammers' management structure.

Zola said: "I'm delighted to be here. It is a great honour for me to be involved in such an important job.






'I can promise to do my best to make good for this club. The club has got tradition and I am just here to help develop the team and to develop the players.

'That is my duty and I will do it with all of myself. 'I will give to these players all of my experience and all of my knowledge - I am here to be somebody good for them.

'That is my aim and I will do everything I can to succeed in this.' Zola's previous coaching role was with the Italy Under-21 side and although he admits his managerial CV in thin, he is confident in his abilities.




'I know I am not the most experienced manager around but I have ideas, I have been in football for 20 years.

'I know what we're talking about and I will certainly give something to this club; whether it is enough or not we will see. But I have a lot of knowledge of the game and the players will help me with this.'

Zola said he hoped his second stint in English football will be as successful as the seven he spent as a player with Chelsea.

'I take The Bible everywhere with me'

Manchester United's club-record signing, Dimitar Berbatov, has revealed a previously unknown side to his character and one that may surprise a few people as well.





Berbatov, 27, who joined the Premier League and European champions for £30.75 million on transfer deadline day, dislikes swearing in all walks of life, as befits someone who describes himself as "religious" and who "takes The Bible everywhere with me".

All of which could make for some interesting times ahead, especially if the Bulgaria international finds himself confronted by his manager Sir Alex Ferguson's now infamous 'hairdryer', possibly starting with his United debut at, of all places, Anfield in the Premier League this Saturday lunch-time.

"I've done many stupid things because of my stubbornness, only because I didn't want to listen to my parents' advice," Berbatov told the Sun.

"And then it always turned out that they were right. My father always told me not to be swell-headed. He repeated that so often that it still helps me.

"When I realise I give myself airs, the red light in my head flashes. Many times I was ashamed because of some of the things I had done. I have paraded with the fact that I'm Dimitar Berbatov. Then I always heard my dad's voice in my head.

"Besides, I am religious and I take The Bible everywhere with me. There are many good pieces of advice for those like me in The Bible."

As for the thorny issue of swearing, a common, albeit unwanted, feature no doubt on the football field these days, the moody forward is insistent that he could never bring himself to curse at another opponent, unlike his likely strike partner at Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney, one can imagine.

"This is a matter of good upbringing. I don't swear in my daily life. My every second words are not da mu eba maikata (**** your mother)," he said.

"I try to do everything with style – not only in football. If I manage to give any positive examples for young people, then that is great.

"To be honest, sometimes I lose my temper when I am on the pitch. I even shout at my team-mates too much and then they are a bit angry. But this is who I am.

"I often tell them: 'Dudes, no problem, you can shout at me if there is something! I won't be angry. When the game is over, it's over.'

"But some of them take it to heart and are angry with me. They don't realise this is the way I release the stress."

Meanwhile, one of those team-mates, Carlos Tevez, has said that his sending-off in Argentina's World Cup qualifier with Paraguay on Saturday night was the worst moment of his career to date.

United striker Tevez was sent off for the second time in his last three internationals in Buenos Aires following a reckless two-footed lunge that resulted in a straight red card, leaving the Argentinean to reveal: "I haven't slept for two nights. What happened is very ugly. It's the unhappiest moment of my career. I can't let this happen again."

Brazilian's Real escape

Robinho's agent Wagner Ribeiro has admitted that he deliberately used Chelsea's interest in the winger to get any deal which would take the 24-year old out of Real Madrid – whether the controversial winger ended up at Stamford Bridge or not.

The Brazilian joined Manchester City in a British record deal on deadline day and Ribeiro said: 'I went to London to plot a get-out strategy with (Chelsea chief executive) Peter Kenyon.

'I filtered out the details of the Chelsea offers to the media - I was just playing according to the rules of the game.'


Ribeiro continued: 'Kenyon was desperately phoning me to find out what was happening but I'd come to the conclusion that Chelsea and Real were not going to reach an agreement so we said yes to City.'


It was very clear that Robinho was intent on leaving Real before the transfer deadline, and I think the majority of non Real fans were sympathetic to his plight. But now that his agent has come out and revealed the lengths they were prepared to go to achive their aim I am sure I am not alone in viewing the transfer antics of Robinho and his agent with distaste. Not very honourable behaviour gentlemen.

City's new Arab owners make £160,000-a-week Robinho top Premier League wage earner

Manchester City have made Brazil star Robinho the highest-paid player in the Barclays Premier League at an incredible £160,000 a week.

And the front man for City’s prospective new owners from the Abu Dhabi royal family fired a warning shot at neighbours Manchester United by even threatening a future bid for Cristiano Ronaldo.

Robinho was promised the enormous wages to persuade him to give up his dream of joining Chelsea. And the extent of City’s new wealth and ambition was emphasised when manager Mark Hughes was told he could buy the Brazilian and Dimitar Berbatov on the same day



Berbatov decided to join United but hinted that City were also prepared to push the boat out for him.

He said: ‘The red shirt is a really, really big thing for me. I don’t play for the money. If I want to play for the money, I would have accepted Manchester City’s offer.’


With Robinho now earning £30,000 a week more than Chelsea’s John Terry and £100,000 a week more than City’s second-highest earner Shaun Wright-Phillips, it would appear that the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment mean business.

On Tuesday night, Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the front-man for ADUG, said: ‘I’m happy and really excited to have Robinho at this club, but we wanted both of the players. We would have had both of them if we could.

‘I’m going to see the performance in the first half of the season and then we’ll decide what we do on transfers at the halfway stage. Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious.

‘Real Madrid were estimating his value at $160million (£89m) but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more. I would think $240m (£135m). But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United.’

It was thought Al-Fahim was mischiefmaking with his comments about United, but, asked later in the day by Sportsmail about his ambitions for City, he suggested that the club’s owners have indeed set their sights on toppling United.

He added: ‘Manchester is a big city, one of the biggest for football in the UK. I can’t say we’re necessarily going to be bigger than United because every club has the right to grow and might do so, but we certainly believe we can challenge them from now on.’






Al-Fahim offered assurances on Tuesday night that Hughes and executive chairman Garry Cook will remain at the club when it eventually passes from Thaksin Shinawatra into Arab hands later this month.

The 31-year-old will meet Hughes for the first time in London on Friday morning and also seek a meeting with Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards in order to explain ADUG’s plans for the club.

Hughes is understandably delighted at the takeover of the club he joined only in June but he has already been made aware that City must be playing Champions League football this time next year.

Al-Fahim added: ‘We will certainly not pay £40m for a player if he is only worth £10m and we must also makes sure that the club is doing well.

‘That means finishing in the top four this season and fighting for the title in the next two or three seasons.’

On Tuesday at the City of Manchester Stadium, fans queued to renew season tickets and buy first team shirts bearing the names of Robinho and Wright-Phillips, who returned to the club last week.

Robinho met Hughes in London yesterday before flying to South America for international duty with Brazil this weekend.

Hughes said: ‘With the environment we create, we help good players become better and we hope Robinho can become the best in the world. We certainly think he can be.’

Hair not apparent: Footballer Wayne Rooney's mop gets a little thin on top

He might be from the city that gave the world the famous moptop hairstyle as pioneered by the Beatles, but that's where the similarity ends.

Wayne Rooney, 22, revealed his thinning locks as he trained with the England squad and it seems that the premiership star's hair is rather less luxuriant than it used to be.





Compared to a picture of the young soccer star just two years ago, Rooney's brown hair appears to have thinned out a little.

His cropped new hairstyle has removed most of his boyish curls, but appears to have exposed a severely receding hairstyle.

Maybe the stress of organising a £5million wedding earlier this year, to wife Coleen Rooney, has taken its toll.

Meanwhile, wife Coleen seems determined to shed her WAG shopaholic tag as she has written another book on style.

The 22-year-old revealed that her new book - Coleen's Real Style - will be her last ever project under her maiden name Coleen McLoughlin.

And to show her love and commitment to husband Wayne she has vowed to use her new surname in all aspects of her life.

She told the Sunday Mirror: 'I'm changing my name completely. At first I thought about keeping my own name, then I thought about using both names and then I said to Wayne, "What do you want me to do?"

'And he said, "I want you to change it". I thought, "You know what, when I have children I'd like us to have the same name."

'It also means a lot to Wayne. If you ask him what he finds special about being married, he'll say it's the fact that I took his name and we've now got the same surnames.'

Chelsea war with Real Madrid over Robinho

Peter Kenyon is attempting to salvage a deal for Robinho after Real Madrid attacked Chelsea's conduct and suggested that the Brazilian could only leave if he bought out his contract.




With the transfer window closing imminently, relations between Real Madrid and Chelsea have deteriorated badly over the past 24 hours with the clubs becoming embroiled in a war of words.

Real are particularly angry that Chelsea mistakenly advertised a replica shirt on their website with Robinho's name printed on the back, and the Spaniards have reiterated their "decision" not to sell him.

"Madrid profoundly regrets the behaviour of the directors of Chelsea FC who, despite knowing perfectly well that our decision was to not sell, have continued to make gestures and comments, even going so far as to sell the player's shirt on its website," said the Real statement.

Real also criticised Robinho for speaking out about his desire to leave. Under Spanish rules, Robinho can take the unlikely option of becoming a free agent by paying off a buy-out clause in his contract of £120 million. "If the player's final decision is to unilaterally rescind his contract then the club would have no choice but to accept that," said Real.

Chelsea said they "completely refute" any criticism of their tactics. "There is nothing wrong with publicly confirming our interest in a player when the club involved is well aware of it, has been in receipt of two bids and is negotiating to sell the player," said a Chelsea statement. "As for the issue regarding the website, Real are well aware this was a regrettable accident by an external supplier which was rectified as soon as it was brought to our attention and not a single shirt was sold."

Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, is still hopeful of pushing through a deal after Robinho admitted his "head was at Chelsea". He added: "Bernd Schuster [the Real coach] isn't my father, he's my coach. He can't make me do anything."

After seeing his team held to a 1-1 draw by Tottenham, Luiz Felipe Scolari admitted he had no idea if Robinho would join. "It's not my business," he said.

Aston Villa's grudge match with Liverpool is a damp squib on all fronts

When a homemade banner hanging from the top tier of the Holte End is the most memorable part of an afternoon's entertainment, it does not say much for the quality on offer at a damp Villa Park.

'Rafa Benitez is just a fat Spanish waiter,' it read.

And Villa Park held its breath in anticipation.





The stage was set and the home crowd pumped up by the perceived injustice of Liverpool's summer-long pursuit of Gareth Barry, and the spat between Benitez and Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill.


Conditions were perfect for 90 minutes that should have been packed with incident following a summer of intrigue and back-biting.

Would the England international prove his £18million valuation? Could O'Neill exact his revenge for a summer of angst? Or would Benitez demonstrate just why it was that his club could still cherry-pick stars of a rival owned by an American billionaire prepared to spend now and never ask questions?

In the end, not one of the 41,647 who attended is any the clearer as to whether Villa can challenge the top four or if Liverpool can finally mount a title push.

If you were looking for controversy, there was little to chew over.

O'Neill and Benitez even shook hands before the start. It was a sign of things to come.

Barry was competent, but little more, as were most on view.

The commitment was present, certainly, but the heart-stopping moments were missing. Indeed, the important outcome was the extent of a hamstring injury that forced Fernando Torres' withdrawal before the half-hour.

Benitez said: 'I think it will be seven to 10 days, but we need a scan to make sure.'

In the absence of Steven Gerrard, Liverpool will hope to have Torres back to face Manchester United in two weeks' time.

As for the match, Benitez's tactics were spot on, a fact his opposite number was keen to acknowledge after the final whistle.






Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso sat in front of John Carew while Alvaro Arbeloa allowed Ashley Young little time to get going before he charged over to sniff out any danger.

Faced with such tactics, Villa were nullified.

With new signing James Milner likely to cause problems on the other flank in future, that will not always be the case, but they huffed and puffed to their first goalless draw in 16 months.

'I've just said to Ashley that Liverpool have paid him the biggest compliment so far,' said O'Neill.

'They sent their full back to get as close as possible to him and decided to stop the danger at source.

'The full back almost neglected his covering duties. It was as if the rest of the defence said: "Don't bother about us, just keep him in check".'

The one moment, a few minutes before the interval, when Young broke free of Arbeloa's shackles, Villa almost scored.

After Barry and Carew combined, the England international reached the by-line, pulled the ball back and Carew side-footed goalwards but Pepe Reina blocked with his feet.

Stiliyan Petrov fired wide and Milner struck a shot straight at the Liverpool goalkeeper but the hosts never truly looked like improving a wretched record against the visitors, having drawn four and lost six on their own patch since last beating the Anfield side.

Benitez will be the happier manager, although he was subjected to some abuse that was not particularly tasteful as the afternoon progressed.

The one real chance Liverpool created came 19 minutes from time.

Centre half Martin Laursen raced out of his slot and headed away, but the ball was swiftly chipped back over his head and Robbie Keane raced clear.

He dithered over his shot and Nigel Reo-Coker made up sufficient ground to throw himself into a tackle.

Though Keane was thrown to the ground, he had already fired off a weak effort which dribbled wide.

It was the one instant of possible controversy but referee Martin Atkinson, who must have been expecting a far more testing afternoon, ignored Keane's pleas for a penalty.

Benitez said: 'We were better in the second half and kept the ball well but we need to improve in the final third.

'The only positive news from the afternoon was the fact we have an international break. As far as Torres is concerned, we are hopeful it is not the worst for us but we will have to wait for the scan.'

Asked whether he was upset by the chanting, he replied: 'I saw a television programme the other day and they said the Birmingham accent is the most difficult to understand. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.'

'Fair enough,' replied the Brummie enquirer, 'I'm just happy you understood the question.

Capello snubs Owen and brings Bullard into the England squad

Michael Owen's international future was plunged into serious doubt last night after Fabio Capello took the extraordinary decision to omit him from an England squad that includes Fulham's Jimmy Bullard.

The manager will no doubt point to the injury problems that have limited Owen to just one start so far this season.

But the decision looks like madness when it leaves England going into two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and, more importantly, Croatia with just Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey and Theo Walcott as strikers.

While Owen has scored 40 goals in his 89 internationals, many of them in critical games, the strikers Capello has chosen to take to Barcelona and Zagreb have managed a combined total of just 24 goals in 119 England appearances.

Although Owen is short of match fitness - against Arsenal on Saturday he played for 90 minutes but in an under-performing Newcastle United side looked tired towards the end - he proved in the two previous games that he had not lost his eye for goal.




And those two strikes in two matches as a substitute have persuaded Newcastle to offer him a new £120,000-a-week contract - and they should have been enough to secure him a place in Capello's squad.

Owen can only hope it is purely for fitness reasons that he has been left out, although he was understood to be stunned by the decision.

Capello declined the opportunity to explain his thinking last night although he is understood to have been unimpressed by comments Owen made after a frustrating performance against France last season.





Baffled by Capello's tactics, Owen said: 'In terms of what we were trying to do, you'd better ask the manager.'

Any England team should be capable of beating Andorra. Even one with Bullard.

But an encounter with the Croatia team who eliminated England from the European Championship is one Capello cannot afford to lose if he wants a smooth passage to the World Cup finals in South Africa.

Capello might have been stunned by an apparent lack of support from leading Premier League managers in the last few days but he now fails to help himself, so surprising is the absence of Owen.

The Italian could have used Andorra to help Owen regain his fitness and then unleash him against Croatia.

Not only would that boost an England team badly lacking in confidence, it would also worry a Croatia side who, because of injury, did not have to face England's finest goalscorer in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. Just as surprising as Owen's omission is the inclusion of Bullard.

Capello is short of midfielders because of injuries to Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick but Fulham's likeable middle man probably never imagined he would receive a callup, even if he was excellent for Fulham in last week's win over Arsenal.

Bullard once described his move from Dartford to Gravesend as the most significant of his career, and Swindon v Peterborough his biggest game prior to the 2006 Carling Cup Final for Wigan against Manchester United.

Until last night, he probably thought he had more chance of representing England as an angler - he is an outstanding carp fisherman - than a footballer.

A glance through the squad and there are other surprises.

Joe Hart has been axed as the third goalkeeper and there is no place at centre half for Jonathan Woodgate, even though he was terrific for Tottenham against Chelsea yesterday.

Two goals by Defoe for Portsmouth at Everton on Saturday may suggest he is running into form.

However, in Capello's last game - the 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic at Wembley - the Pompey striker looked seriously out of his depth.

Owen's exclusion came at the end of a day when Newcastle heaped pressure on their captain to accept a new contract after unexpectedly announcing what the club claim is an improved three-year deal.

However, the move could yet backfire with the striker and his representatives upset with Newcastle's decision to make the offer public before approaching them.

England squad to play Andorra in Barcelona on September 6 and Croatia in Zagreb on September 10:

Robinson (Blackburn), James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham); Lescott (Everton), Bridge (Chelsea), A Cole (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Brown (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Upson (West Ham); Barry (Aston Villa), J Cole (Chelsea), Lampard (Chelsea), Bullard (Fulham), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Downing (Middlesbrough), Bentley (Tottenham), Jenas (Tottenham); Walcott (Arsenal), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth), Heskey (Wigan).