Injured Neville prays for a miracle

“It might only be a 10 per cent chance — you can probably make that nearer five per cent — but there is nothing to be gained by giving up,” Neville said in a column in the Times.

“It will take a miracle recovery and I don’t want to deprive someone of a place by taking a ridiculous gamble, but I will have an X-ray around the time that Mr Eriksson is naming his squad on May 7 and, if there are signs of rapid improvement, you never, never know.”

No surprises in the German squad

Assistant coach of the German soccer team Michael Skibbe has said surprises should not be expected when the triple World champions name their World Cup squad.

“We will leave it until the last second to chose from the 30 players that we’re considering at the moment,” Skibbe told West Deutsche Zeitung daily.

“There will be no surprises.” Head coach Rudi Voeller will be without Bayern Munich midfielder Mehmet Scholl, who has pulled out because he is not fully fit, while Hertha Berlin midfielder Sebastian Deisler is doubtful with a thigh muscle injury.

Skibbe hinted that Bayern Munich striker Carsten Jancker, who has failed to make an impact this season, should be preferred to TSV 1860’s Martin Max, the Bundesliga’s joint top scorer with 16 goals. “National and international football are two different things,” Skibbe said.

Argentina is Eriksson’s favourites

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has picked Argentina as his favourites and given a strong hint that he would pick midfielder Joe Cole by saying England’s squad could be the youngest at the 32-team finals.

Eriksson also said on Saturday he would pick Leeds United’s Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate after the finals. The players have been ignored since being involved in court cases over the assault of an Asian student. Cole, 20, was outstanding in a 4-0 defeat of Paraguay this month.