Roy Hodgson's tenure as England national team manager is off to a controversial start.
Hodgson named his squad for Euro 2012 and has included the likes of John Terry, Stewart Downing and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain while leaving out Rio Ferdinand, Daniel Sturridge, Aaron Lennon, Darren Bent and Michael Carrick, among others. Terry will not captain the squad, though, as that distinction goes to Liverpool veteran Steven Gerrard.
The inclusion of Terry and omission of Ferdinand is the biggest talking point considering that Terry is set to stand trial for allegedly racially abusing Ferdinand's brother, Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, and the FA's decision to strip Terry of his captaincy ultimately led to Fabio Capello's resignation as coach. Rio Ferdinand is not even on the alternates list, which includes Sturridge, Adam Johnson, Phil Jagielka, Jordan Henderson and Jack Butland.
Wayne Rooney, suspended for the first two games of the tournament, spearheads the attack, but the combination of Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe and Danny Welbeck will be called upon to get the Three Lions through opening games against France and Sweden before Rooney returns for the group finale against co-host Ukraine.
England's full squad and a few more stories to kick off your day are after the jump:
ENGLAND EURO 2012 SQUAD
GOALKEEPERS: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Rob Green (West Ham), John Ruddy (Norwich City)
DEFENDERS: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea)
MIDFIELDERS: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Manchester United)
FORWARDS: Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United)
SANCHEZ TAKES PACHUCA COACHING JOB
When Jose Francisco Torres returns to Pachuca after U.S. national team duty this summer, he'll be returning to play under a new coach, but one with a storied past.
Former Mexico national team coach Hugo Sanchez was named Pachuca's new manager, replacing Efrain Flores. He has not coached since guiding Spanish side Almeria for a short time after coaching El Tri from 2006-2008, a stint in which he was fired before he could complete the path to Mexico's qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
DUSSELDORF PROMOTED
Fortuna Dusseldorf is back in the Bundesliga for the first time in 15 years after defeating Hertha Berlin in their two-legged playoff with Tuesday's 2-2 draw sealing a 4-3 aggregate victory.
As a result Hertha Berlin, the club that employs U.S. national team call-up Alfredo Morales, will return to the 2. Bundesliga after a season in which Morales made 10 appearances in all competitions but none in the playoff.
Dusseldorf joins Greuther Furth and Eintracht Frankfurt as teams going up, while Berlin will accompany Cologne and Kaiserslautern as teams making the drop.
DANISH LEAGUE TO TEST GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY
Games in Denmark featuring Americans Conor O'Brien and Michael Parkhurst will be used to test goal-line technology later this month.
The Silkeborg-Sonderjyske match and FC Nordsjaelland-AC Horsens match will both be used to test the GoalRef system, one of two that FIFA is considering to implement. The other system, HawkEye, is being tested Wednesday at a lower-tier match in England.
A final decision on which system to use is expected at the beginning of July.
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What do you make of Hodgson's decisions? What do you think of Sanchez returning to coach Pachuca? Which of the promoted German teams do you think has the best shot at staying up? Excited to see the goal-line technology process progressing?
Share your thoughts below.