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Young look England turning to fresh faces for Germany match
LONDON (AP) -- Amid all the nostalgia surrounding England's last game at Wembley before the old stadium is knocked down, coach Kevin Keegan is set to name two 20-year-olds in his World Cup starting lineup against Germany on Saturday with an untried 18-year-old on the bench. Liverpool's Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard look certain to start the Group Nine game at the home of English soccer and West Ham's Joe Cole will sit alongside 19-year-old Gareth Barry and 21-year-olds Rio Ferdinand and Kieron Dyer among the substitutes. If all five get on the field at the same time, it will be the youngest England lineup for many years. Although that might be considered a gamble in such a big game against a team as strong as three-time World Cup winner Germany, Keegan sees it as the best way forward. "It is not an inexperienced squad," the England head coach said. "A lot of the players will have played in World Cups, European Championships and in the Champions League. "So, although it's a great game and there's a lot of different factors, when you get on the pitch, you don't think to yourself `this is the last game at Wembley'. "You think 'how are we going to beat this team?' You concentrate on what you're doing and no one will be overawed by the occasion," said Keegan, who has played in the Bundesliga for Hamburg. "You always need a result and a performance. This one has just put a bit more cream on it, I suppose, because it's Germany and because it's the last game at Wembley. "It just makes it a little bit bigger than normal, but what's the difference between enormous and massive?" Owen, who netted England's equalizer in a 1-1 tie with world European champion France a month ago, is set to line up alongside Manchester United's Andy Cole as the England strikeforce and admits they don't have much experience playing together. "I have played with him for 10 minutes against France, that's all," said the Liverpool striker, who has scored seven goals for his club this season against Cole's six for Manchester United. "You don't know if you can play together. "I'm playing as well as I've played for Liverpool and with 23 caps, I have certainly been pleased with my international career." Joe Cole is considered one of the fastest rising stars in the English game and has been called up to the senior squad for the first time while Dyer (12 appearances) and Barry and Ferdinand (five each) all have some experience although not at World Cup level. Saturday's game is England's first in the group while the Germans kicked off with a 2-0 victory over Greece. The match is the last before Wembley, built in 1923, is demolished to make for a completely new stadium to be built on the same site by 2003. Wembley has hosted many highlights of English soccer including the 1966 World Cup final in which Bobby Moore's team beat the Germans 4-2 after extra time for the nation's only triumph in international soccer.
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