England manager Roy Hodgson has played down West Ham United striker Andy Carroll's chances of being picked for this year's European Championship.
Football Soccer - West Ham United v Manchester United - FA Cup Quarter Final Replay - Upton Park - 13/4/16
West Ham's Andy Carroll during the warm up before the match
Action Images via Reuters / John Sibley
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LONDON: England manager Roy Hodgson has played down West Ham
United striker Andy Carroll's chances of being picked for this year's
European Championship.
The injury-plagued 27-year-old scored a Premier League hat-trick
against Arsenal last week, prompting calls for Hodgson to include him in
the squad for the tournament in France, which starts in June."Every time someone scores a goal and he's English it is 'why is he not playing for England?'," the 68-year-old told reporters.
"I'm certainly not going to pick him on the basis that he scored a hat-trick so therefore has to be in the England team."
Carroll's main strengths are his physical presence and
ability in the air, offering a different threat to Hodgson's other
forward options including Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge,
Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney.
"We know Andy, we know his qualities," Hodgson said.
"In an ideal world, if you had a lot of places at your
disposal, you'd always include a guy like him because he is exceptional
in the air - but whether or not I'd be able to include him with all
these others, I don't know."
Carroll won the last of his nine England caps in 2012.(Reporting by Ed Osmond. Editing by Patrick Johnston)
- Reuters
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