Duo fit for England duty

By Kevin Ashby

Attacking midfield player Kelly Smith and goalkeeper Rachel Brown were both deemed fit enough to represent England at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ after being named today in Hope Powell's 20-player squad for this summer.

Previous injuries
Smith, arguably England's greatest player ever, has been tormented by injury in recent seasons but returned to these shores from the United States to fire Arsenal LFC to the Premier League title. Brown, of Everton LFC, has missed a year of international football but still earned one of the goalkeeping slots along with Jo Fletcher and Leanne Hall.

Exams
Only seven of the squad which played in the 2001 championship are in the party, with the accent among the 20 firmly on youth. English football's Young Player of the Year, Karen Carney, and exciting striker Eniola Aluko are both 18, while Anita Asante - who scored the only goal in England's recent defeat of Norway - is another currently studying for school exams.

'Right choices'
Speaking at Football Association headquarters in central London today, Powell said: "It was really difficult to cut the squad down to 20 players as we've worked with a bigger group for the last 18 months or so. It's important that we have the players to fill every position twice - so players will have to move if necessary - and we think we've made the right choices.

Tournament exposure
"This is a new era and is vastly different from 2001 when the 20-player squad picked itself. We've made huge strides forward and recent results have been good. The younger players now have experience of tournament football having been involved in the Under-19s and U21s - exposure that can only help. We're all looking forward to June as we have a good mix of youth, experience and talent."

Finland first
England face three Scandinavian teams in Group A, with Germany, Norway, Italy and France making up the other pool. The hosts open their campaign against Finland at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday 5 June before tackling Denmark and Sweden in Blackburn.

England squad

Goalkeepers
Rachel Brown (Everton LFC)
Josephine Fletcher (Birmingham City LFC)
Leanne Hall (Fulham LFC)

Defenders
Lindsay Johnson (Everton LFC)
Mary Phillip (Arsenal LFC)
Alex Scott (Birmingham City LFC)
Casey Stoney (Charlton Athletic LFC)
Rachel Unitt (Everton LFC)
Faye White (Arsenal LFC)

Midfielders
Anita Asante (Arsenal LFC)
Katie Chapman (Charlton Athletic LFC)
Vicky Exley (Doncaster Rovers Belles LFC)
Emily Westwood (Wolverhampton Wanderers LFC)
Fara Williams (Everton LFC)
Kelly Smith (Arsenal LFC)

Forwards
Amanda Barr (Birmingham City LFC)
Karen Carney (Birmingham City LFC)
Jody Handley (Everton LFC)
Rachel Yankey (Birmingham City LFC)