Two of England's most promising young strikers, Peter Crouch and Bobby Zamora, have been named in Les Reed's England Under-20 squad to face Portugal in Amadora on April 10.
What a week it has been for Crouch. The former Tottenham, QPR and Portsmouth frontman sealed a dream move to Aston Villa last week before making his debut for David Platt's Under-21 side against Italy at Bradford City. Now the big man with the subtle touch has another chance to show he has what it takes to be a success on the international stage.
Crouch is well known to the F.A.'s Football Division having progressed through the international ranks. By contrast, coach Les Reed will be eager to have a look at Bobby Zamora in the flesh for what will be the first time.Though the England scouts have been keeping an eye on the
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Crouch and Zamora, with exactly 50 Football League goals between them this season, could make a frightening combination of pace, power and presence if they were to line-up alongside one another for their country next week.
However, even considering the duo's fantastic records this season, they are still not guaranteed starting places bearing in mind the presence of Leon Knight in the party. The Chelsea striker has been on loan to Huddersfield this season and his 17 goals for the Terriers are ample testament to the fine form he is currently enjoying.
Speaking of fine form, Peter Schmeichel knows all about the talent that Kevin Nolan has been displaying on an impressively consistent basis in the Premiership for Bolton Wanderers all season. The Danish goalkeeping legend got nowhere near Nolan's wonderfully struck free-kick over the weekend, and the Liverpool-born midfielder will be hoping for similar success in Portugal.
Chelsea's Joe Keenan may not be that well known to English football fans (yet) but the silkily skilled midfielder has already made an impression with the Portuguese. When these two teams last met at Southampton's St. Mary's Stadium in November it was Keenan who stole the show.
With his wand of a left foot he controlled the game and deservedly got on the scoresheet for the winning goal in what was a highly entertaining encounter.
Another man to have impressed at this level is Manchester United's Jimmy Davis, who scored a brace in the team's last outing - a 3-0 victory over Finland in March.
Head coach Les Reed is looking forward to meeting up with the squad again.
"This is a very exciting squad of players and I am looking to seeing how they fare against Portugal," he told TheFA.com."We were extremely pleased with the performance and the result the last time we played them and we'll be hoping for more of the same for this match.
"This is the final match before we travel to Toulon for the International Tournament, which begins on May 6. It is ideal preparation."
Here is a look at the squad in full:
International U20 Friendly Match - Portugal v England
Amadora, Portugal - Wednesday 10th April 2002
BOTHROYD Jay - Coventry City
CLARKE Peter - Everton
CROUCH Peter - Aston Villa
DAVIS James - Manchester United
ETHERINGTON Matthew - Tottenham Hotspur
HALLS John - Arsenal
HENRY Karl - Stoke City
HOWARTH Russell - York City
JACKSON Johnnie - Tottenham Hotspur
JAGIELKA Philip - Sheffield United
JOHNSON Andrew - Birmingham City
KEENAN Joe - Chelsea
KNIGHT Leon - Chelsea (on loan to Huddersfield Town)
LESCOTT Joleon - Wolverhampton Wanderers
MCSHEFFREY Gary - Coventry City
MYHILL Boaz - Aston Villa
NOBLE David - Arsenal (on loan to Watford)
NOLAN Kevin - Bolton Wanderers
PARNABY Stuart - Middlesbrough
RICHARDSON Frazer - Leeds United
RICKETTS Rohan - Arsenal
SIDWELL Steven - Arsenal (on loan to Brentford)
ZAMORA Bobby - Brighton & Hove Albion
Coaching Staff: Les Reed, Martin Hunter, Nigel Pearson, Paul Davis, Martin Thomas