SQUADS ANNOUNCED AS TOURNAMENT DRAWS CLOSER

A number of squads, be they preliminary, provisional or predictable have now be announced for this summer's World Cup, with the tournament just over thirty days away.

Today England manager Fabio Capello announced his thirty-strong provisional squad with many rumours circling around possible surprise inclusions. Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has come out of international retirement to answer the Italian's call while no less than six Tottenham players have made the first draft of the national squad.

Darren Bent is another player to perhaps unfairly be named as a 'surprise' inclusion, after all what more can a striker do to get in the England team if 24 league goals isn't enough? Other mild surprises were those of West Ham midfielder Scott Parker and the injured Gareth Barry who had been expected to miss out.

Capello will now scrutinise his thirty men over the coming weeks before the players are given their final chance to impress in the friendlies with Mexico and Japan at the end of May. He will then announce his final 23 man squad on June 1st, just ten days before the start of the tournament.

England aren't the only team to announce their squad however, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Ghana, Portugal, Nigeria, Spain and hosts South Africa are just a few of the nations to have named a squad in some capacity.