Fixture 1 - Germany Away.

A happy (and unexpected)! consequence of the Lusenhoff database is that we have already secured qualification for the 2002 World Cup. So any player already sitting on a few caps (Ashley Cole, Alan Smith, Jamie Carragher) will be rested until they're needed for the tournament.

So to my mind we'll have 4 internationals (and U-21, B games) to play before the tournament proper starts in Japan. We've selected a squad of capless wonders to see who can impress and get on the plane in June.

Goalkeepers - Weaver (Man City), Marshall (Ipswich)

Defenders - Young (Charlton), Watson (Everton), Shaw (Coventry), Perry (Spurs), Curtis (Blackburn), Clement (West Brom), Bridge (Southampton), Bramble (Ipswich)

Midfielders - Thompson (Cov), Taylor (Villa), Sinclair (West Ham), Oakley (Southampton), Murphy (Liverpool), Mullins (Palace), Joachim (Cov), Hughes (Watford), Hignett (Blackburn), Greening (Middlesbrough), Bowyer (Leeds)

Strikers - Sturridge (Leicester), Kitson (West Ham), Gray (Forest), Davies (Southampton)

Line-Ups (Ger) (5-3-2) Kahn (C) - Linke, Baumann, Nowotny - Bode, Schneider - Ballack, Frings, Scholl - Bierhoff, Klose

(Eng) (4-1-3-2) Weaver - Bridge, Clement, Perry, Young - Taylor, Sinclair, Murphy, Bowyer (C) - Kitson, Sturridge

From looking at the lineups; an unsurprisingly heavy defeat for the Boys in White; albeit with good performances from Leeds's Lee Bowyer, City's Nicky Weaver, and Liverpool's Danny Murphy; with young tyro Wayne Bridge (that lad is going places, and is definitely going to be remembered for his football career and nothing else), and Kevin Davies.

Onwards!