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Ashley Cole is set to be England’s first-choice left-back for the 2010 World Cup, but who will go to South Africa as a student?
with Wayne Bridge has made himself unavailable following allegations that his ex-boyfriend had an affair with Chelsea’s John Terry. Coach Fabio Capello’s choice came down to either Everton’s Leighton Baines or Aston Villa’s Stephen Warnock, both of whom made the provisional squad.
It is not yet known who the team will take with them when they return from their pre-tournament training camp in Austria.
“We were told we’d get a phone call one way or another,” Warnock recalled. “On the day the phone came out, we knew that the call would come at a certain number and a certain time before, because they would announce it immediately. So I was at home, literally waiting by the phone.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to go because I didn’t hit the ball in the two warm-up games we just played against Mexico and Japan.
“My England career at that point was the seven minutes I played against Trinidad and Tobago in June 2008 two years ago.
“I went to Austria because of the ankle injury I picked up in the last game of the season for Villa.
“I went on holiday but I had a scan while I was away and then when I got back I spoke to the physios and basically told them I was going to do everything I could to get in the World Cup squad.
“I told them to put me in a harness and for the first week I was in training. When I was in Austria, I was doing physio every hour of the day, and I was working on my ankle as much as I could.
“I don’t know if that was communicated to the management, but without playing in both games, I thought I was done, Capello won’t take me now.
“I remember exactly where I was when I called.
“I just got divorced, but I was at home with my ex-husband now, and when my phone rang, I went up to my bedroom, because I wanted to be alone. I was like, “I’m leaving!” And maybe I was in a bit of a panic.
“It was Franco Baldini (Capello’s assistant) who called and I have no idea if he called everyone and told them – I didn’t know how it worked and I didn’t care!
“Baldini just said, ‘Listen, you’ve had a great season, we know what you’re capable of anyway and we like your attitude — we think you’ll be perfect around camp for training and stuff like that.
“‘You know it will be difficult for Ash to get used to, because he doesn’t hurt and he doesn’t play, but we think you are the perfect supporter for him with your professionalism and everything else.
“And I was like, ‘Yeah, 100% that’s what I’m doing.’ I know what my role is going to be anyway, so that was good.”
While the good news came as a surprise to Warnock, a clue was already there.
The previous day, English kit manufacturer Umbro had sent muralists to the home town of the team’s players to paint their Malta numbers on large surfaces with the slogan ‘Designed by them’.
For Warnock, that was a wall on the side of an Oiste restaurant at a busy junction in Ormskirk.
