With Sven-Goran Eriksson constantly buzzing around London to fulfil afternoon tea engagements, one could hardly expect him to find time to phone individual players to inform them that they have been selected for England duty. Even so, a quick call from the FA would have spared Jlloyd Samuel from the shock of turning on Sky Sports three weeks ago to see his name scrolling across the bottom of the screen in the England party for Sweden.
The England trip to Gothenburg turned out to offer nothing more than a chance to sample some herring, Samuel's expectations of winning a cap proving to be a red one. Perhaps Eriksson simply lost count on his fingers after making eight substitutions, forgetting that he was allowed to change another three players. His call-up at least suggested that Samuel, 23, was right to hold out for England, rather than seek international recognition with Trinidad, where he was born. And it gave him the opportunity to catch up on old times with lifelong friends John Terry and Ledley King, though their topic of conversation was not what one might have expected. Instead of discussing their hopes at Euro 2004 and Villa's chances of playing at the Bernabeu next season, they reminisced about muddy Sunday mornings on London's Hackney Marshes and Wanstead Flats.
