Sven reveals World Cup squad

Arsenal's Martin Keown and Joe Cole of West Ham are celebrating their inclusion in England's World Cup squad announced today.

But there was heartbreak for others in the form of "hard luck" messages from Sven-Goran Eriksson.

The 35-year-old defender and Cole, 20, are the oldest and youngest players included in Eriksson's 23-man squad for the tournament.

Eriksson left it to the last minute to make up his mind about who was going to Japan. As a result he revealed that he could not break the bad news to everyone in person.

He said this afternoon: "I tried to reach everybody this morning. I reached many of them and others I left messages to tell them I was sorry. It's always hard to make decisions like this."

Those whose hopes were dashed included West Ham's Trevor Sinclair, Phil Neville of Manchester United and the widely-touted Blackburn striker Matt Jansen. Neville was said to be in tears when told.

There were no surprises among the first-rank players, with David Beckham, despite his injury, joining Michael Owen, David Seaman, Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard in the squad. There were also places for less-established names like Darius Vassell, Owen Hargreaves, Kieron Dyer, Wayne Bridge and Danny Mills.

The Swede had still not decided on his definitive line-up when he went to bed last night, despite the announcement being scheduled for 10am today.