Seize your big chance: Roy rouses squad as Carroll is given prized No 9 shirt
By Matt Lawton
PUBLISHED: 22:52 GMT, 29 May 2012 | UPDATED: 00:30 GMT, 30 May 2012
The first day with the full England squad — well, all except for a third-choice goalkeeper who reports for duty on Wednesday — and Roy Hodgson kicked things off with a rousing speech.
It was, say those who witnessed it on Tuesday, impressive stuff. 'You've worked bloody hard to get here,' said the England manager at a team meeting held just before lunch. 'To qualify; to get in this squad. Now I want you to enjoy the tournament.'
Hodgson urged them to embrace the experience that awaits England; to embrace the host countries, not least when it comes to visiting Auschwitz and the Schindler factory in Krakow, where England will be based next month.
Part of the team: Andy Carroll looks set to start to start for England after being handed the No 9 shirt
ENGLAND SHIRT NUMBERS
1. JOE HART
2. GLEN JOHNSON
3. ASHLEY COLE
4. STEVEN GERRARD
5. GARY CAHILL
6. JOHN TERRY
7. THEO WALCOTT
8. FRANK LAMPARD
9. ANDY CARROLL
10. WAYNE ROONEY
11. ASHLEY YOUNG
12. LEIGHTON BAINES
13. ROBERT GREEN
14. PHIL JONES
15. JOLEON LESCOTT
16. JAMES MILNER
17. SCOTT PARKER
18. PHIL JAGIELKA
19. STEWART DOWNING
20. ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN
21. JERMAIN DEFOE
22. DANNY WELBECK
23. JACK BUTLAND
It was a day for training together as a group for the first time but it was also the day when they received their official squad numbers and their official tournament suits. As Phil Jagielka revealed, he was not asked to squeeze into Gareth Barry's jacket and trousers.
Reading too much into squad numbers can be dangerous. Robbie Fowler was handed the No 9 shirt at the 2002 World Cup and made just one appearance as a substitute, against Denmark.
But the allocation of numbers must have been done with half an eye on what Hodgson has in mind for Euro 2012. The defenders made sense, with Gary Cahill seemingly deployed alongside John Terry as England's No 5 and No 6.
Andy Carroll has the No 9 shirt, which again makes sense given Danny Welbeck's recent injury problems. That, in turn, left Wayne Rooney with the shirt Hodgson considers his best position. The No 10.
Will Ashley Young and Theo Walcott be deployed on the flanks as Nos 7 and 11 once Rooney has served his two-match suspension? Well, there is a good chance given how little impact James Milner and Stewart Downing made in Norway at the weekend.
It is only when it comes to central midfield that a sense of doubt creeps in. The No 4 and No 8 have gone to Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard respectively, and, while it would be foolish to rule Lampard out when he finished the season so well for Chelsea, Scott Parker, at No 17, remains favourite to start alongside Gerrard.
Look Roo's back: The Manchester United striker shares a joke with Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson
Brothers in arms: Wayne Rooney warms up with John Terry ahead at an England training session on Tuesday
Hodgson looked thrilled to have Rooney and Chelsea's Champions League players with the rest of the group for a training session on the perfect pitches at Arsenal's London Colney training ground last night.
Only Young was absent, the FA revealing the Manchester United winger had suffered a slight knock to an ankle in Oslo that forced him to train in the gym. Oh, and Jack Butland, who it seems has not exactly rushed back from a holiday in Mexico.
Of some encouragement was the sight of Welbeck and Glen Johnson among their international colleagues.
England's medical staff have reported to Hodgson that they are recovering well from their injury problems and it is hoped they will be in full training by Friday, although that might be a bit late for a starting place against Belgium the next day.
Leading by example: Gerrard will captain England at this summer's tournament
Perhaps the most excited to be there was Jagielka, and not just because he was the last-minute replacement for the injured Barry.
'My grandparents are Polish,' he said. 'They moved over in about 1948, via Africa, and settled in Weaverham. My grandad died just before I was born, hence the middle name (Nikodem). My grandma, my babcia, lives in Weaverham now. My dad lives there too. She'll be happy to see me go back to Poland.
'My dad speaks Polish but I can only manage the odd hello and goodbye. I'm not telling the lads that because I don't want to get stitched up.'
In charge: Roy Hodgson addresses his squad on Tuesday
Jagielka could have played for Poland, perhaps even Ukraine, given where his family are from. 'It was the Russian border but the borders have all changed,' he said. 'Technically it could be Ukraine now. But I don't have any relatives there so I've never been back.
'I could have played for Poland but I don't see myself as Polish — I was born in England. I speak with an English accent. Thankfully, I got to play for England.
'Maybe if I'd been nowhere near the England team I might have played for Poland, but I don't know if I'd have felt comfortable joining up with the squad.'
No 9: Andy Carroll has taken the shirt traditionally worn by star strikers
Jagielka deserves to be in this squad. Not only did he agree to be on stand-by and travel to Norway — when some players declined the opportunity — but he performed so well that he made it impossible for Hodgson to ignore him.
'It's been a little bit of a whirlwind,' he said. 'But I'm delighted to be here. I was supposed to be golfing on Friday in Portugal but I'll take being at the Grove. I can play golf when I'm retired. I was gutted not to be in the original 23-man squad but half understood why I wasn't. I was still looking forward to the four days and the Norway game, though.
'For me, the glass is half full. I never envisaged, when I got released by Everton at 15, ever getting back to play for Everton, nor playing for my country.
Pleased to be here: England's Phil Jones was happy to be called up to the squad from the stand by list
'If I'd said no to Norway, I might as well have said I was retiring from international football. And I don't see myself doing that. I never thought I'd get this far.'
As Hodgson said on Tuesday, he's earned it.
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