Ferdinand representative blasts Roy Hodgson

England manager Roy Hodgson has shown a lack of respect to defender Rio Ferdinand by not calling him up for Euro 2012 following an injury to Gary Cahill, the Manchester United player’s representative has said.
 
“It’s a lack of respect. He wants to play,” Ferdinand’s representative Jamie Moralee told BBC Sport after Hodgson brought Liverpool’s Martin Kelly into the squad.

“Rio’s very disappointed. He thought he had done enough. It’s very difficult to accept. This is a player with 81 caps for his country. I don’t know anyone who understands it. It’s not been handled in the right way.”

“This is a player with 81 caps for his country. I don’t know anyone who understands it. It’s not been handled in the right way” Ferdinand’s representative Jamie Moralee

Chelsea centre back Cahill was ruled out of the tournament, which starts on Friday, with his jaw fractured in two places after colliding with team mate and goalkeeper Joe Hart during England’s friendly against Belgium at the weekend.

Kelly, who made his international debut as a substitute in last month’s friendly against Norway, was on the standby list.

Former England captain Ferdinand won his last cap against Switzerland in June 2011 but has had injury problems since.

When announcing his initial squad last month, Hodgson said it was a “footballing decision” to leave the 33-year-old out despite media reports that Ferdinand and fellow England international John Terry had fallen out.
 
Defender Terry, who is in the squad, will go on trial on July 9 charged with racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother Anton, a Queens Park Rangers player. Terry has pleaded not guilty.

England begin their Euro campaign against France in Donetsk on June 11 before facing Sweden and tournament co-hosts Ukraine in Group D.

From Dagenham to Donetsk

But away from the negative headlines, one positive story to come out of Euro 2012 is that of Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The England winger watched the last World Cup in a pub with his friends, but just two years later he is set to cap his meteoric rise by stealing the spotlight at the tournament.

The 18-year-old underlined his credentials as one of the brightest young stars in English football with a lively first international start in Saturday’s 1-0 friendly win over Belgium at Wembley.

The Arsenal teenager showed enough glimpses of his blistering pace and clever footwork to give Hodgson a tough decision over who starts on the left flank in his side’s Euro opener against France on June 11.

Back in 2010, he watched his country’s World Cup campaign from a Southsea pub with hopes of one day playing for England occasionally drifting into his head.

Oxlade-Chamberlain showed no fear against the likes of Eden Hazard at Wembley [Reuters]

Those dreams have come true much quicker than Oxlade-Chamberlain could ever have expected and he can’t wait to get his first taste of the kind of tournament he has only ever seen on a TV screen.

“I went home to see my friends the other day in Southsea and we drove past the pub where we watched the England-Germany game and Frank Lampard scored the goal that got disallowed,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said.

“I was sat with my best friend and he said it was unbelievable that a couple of years ago we were in there watching it and in the next major tournament I’m out there with all the boys.

“It sort of puts things into perspective for you and it has been an amazing journey. But it’s just the start for me and I can’t get carried away.”

At the time he was watching the World Cup on TV, Oxlade-Chamberlain was just emerging from the youth academy at League One club Southampton.

He spent the following season playing a cameo role in Southampton’s promotion, an experience that saw him playing at unglamourous venues like Dagenham, Yeovil and Hartlepool.

“I think the way to describe the last 12 months is that it has been a bit of a whirlwind,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said.

“I can remember playing for Southampton last year at Dagenham on a cold Tuesday night.

“I’m grateful for those experiences because, when you come from that and working hard in those environments, it makes you strive to come and play at places like this and play for your country.

“It has been a mad 12 months and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and it has gone so quickly.”