Reds Gerrard, Carragher and Crouch are all named to the Provisional England Squad. As is keeper Scott Carson.

But there are also some surprises. Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon are in England's provisional World Cup squad, but Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jermain Defoe and Ledley King miss out. Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing and Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves are other surprise inclusions.

Chelsea winger Wright-Phillips, an England squad regular this season, does not even make the standby list, which also includes uncapped West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker and Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson.

Eriksson admitted he was taking a gamble after selecting untried Walcott, who is yet to make a first-team appearance for Arsenal after joining from Southampton in January.

'It is a gamble, of course it is a gamble I can't deny that but it is a nice one,' he said.
'He is a great talent. I have 23 players, why not take one gambling?'

Crouch will likely be viewed as a controversial pick as well. But Rafa takes a typically practical view of how Crouch could deputise for Rooney in Germany.

"He is not Rooney, but he's a different player. He hasn't got the pace of Rooney, but he is a little bit better than Rooney in the air, wouldn't you say?" Benitez said. "Rooney is a fantastic footballer, he can change a game, he can win games, but Crouch can do the same. He can give an assist, win in the air, keep the ball, play good passes.

"He's not the kind of target man you can say, 'Okay, stay there, we'll only pass you long balls'. The first time he was with us, when we were preparing to play Olympiakos in pre-season, a Spanish coach was watching our training and he said, 'Hey, he is really good, this player. Look at him, short passes, both feet'. And against Olympiakos he did what we call in Spanish a 'bicycle'; you call it a stepover; and went on a dribble.

"Maybe in other countries as a manager you might prefer another player, but the way you play in England, to have a target man but with his game intelligence and qualities, it's difficult to find better."