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Rooney, Ferdinand to miss England's US tour
Manchester United pair Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand will miss England's post-season mini-tour of the United States.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson acceded to a request from United manager Alex Ferguson for Rooney to be given a break rather than taking part in matches against the United States on May 24 and Colombia four days later. Ferdinand is being allowed to rest a knee injury following a long domestic season. Eriksson's team rota could also be without any Liverpool players involved in the Champions League final while Real Madrid duo David Beckham and Michael Owen could still be required by the Spanish giants for domestic duty. Chelsea's John Terry and Frank Lampard are already out of the squad, which will be announced Thursday, to undergo surgery on toe injuries. Goalkeeper Paul Robinson, and Newcastle duo Kieron Dyer and Nicky Butt are also injured. However, Erikkson has insisted that while he might be without some established names, the chance to give younger players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Andrew Johnson and Stewart Downing further international experience made the tour a worthwhile exercise. An FA spokesman told the organisation's official website, www.thefa.com: "This tour has always been an opportunity for Sven and the coaching staff to look at some new players a year before the World Cup in Germany. "Next season, opportunities will be at a premium for Sven to look at new players - so he feels this is a great platform for some of the Premier League's bright young stars who have yet to become established in the England team. "It will be an opportunity to play against non-European opposition the summer before the World Cup which nowadays is few and far between due to larger qualifying groups. "Sven believes this is very important as we will expect to play teams from outside Europe in Germany - subject to qualification. "The next opportunity for a tour will realistically not be until 2009, due to the large qualification groups for Euro 2008."
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