Soccer: Michael Owen is facing the very real possibility of ending his career as England's fourth-highest goalscorer.
Owen, who scored the last of his 40 England goals against Russia over a year ago, was left out of the squad announced by coach Fabio Capello last night for the World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Belarus.
There was no surprise about Owen's omission, which was merely confirmation that Capello is not the Newcastle forward's biggest fan.
So, while he was prepared to bring back Emile Heskey for the August friendly with the Czech Republic and restore Peter Crouch to his latest squad, Owen's exile is set to last for quite a while unless the Italian has a major change of heart over the 28-year-old.
David Beckham's experience at Real Madrid is proof Capello is capable of extreme decisions. But those moments are rare in his outstanding career, which leaves Owen needing to come up with something pretty spectacular if he is to force his way back in.
If Crouch replaces Joe Cole in a squad also shorn of goalkeeper Paul Robinson through injury, Steven Gerrard's inclusion ahead of Jimmy Bullard is no shock.
The question Capello must mull over ahead of Saturday's Group Six encounter with Kazakhstan at Wembley is whether to restore the Liverpool skipper to his starting line-up.
Harry Redknapp lambasted Capello for playing Gerrard on the left of midfield against the Czechs, prompting a terse response from the England coach, who felt the Portsmouth manager had got his facts wrong.
Yet there seems no other plausible alternative given the mesmeric nature of England's performance against Croatia in Zagreb last month, in which Theo Walcott grabbed a hat-trick.
As the Arsenal youngster is assured of the right-sided midfield berth, the best Shaun Wright-Phillips can hope for on his return to the squad as replacement for out-of-form David Bentley is a spot on the bench.
No matter who Capello picks from his 23-man squad, England's place alongside Ukraine at the head of their group should not be threatened over the next fortnight.
However, skipper John Terry, who has been declared fit to join up with Capello's squad despite an ongoing back problem, is cautioning against a capacity crowd expecting an easy ride.
"It is difficult to face opponents you have never played before," admitted Terry.
"But we have got the knowledge to speak to other players - Portugal have played them both a couple of times so we have been speaking to their players.
"We have found out little bits, but that is where the manager comes into his own.
"Whilst we are away he gives us all the details and briefs us on their strengths and weaknesses and we go over their team.
"It was a great performance against Croatia but let's not get carried away - it was one performance and we need to continue this over the course of the whole campaign.
"This could be a start to really good things with England.
"If we can pick up six points from the next two games it will be a good start for us."
England Squad: James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham), Carson (West Brom); Brown (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Terry (Chelsea), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Lescott (Everton), Upson (West Ham), A Cole (Chelsea), Bridge (Chelsea); Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Walcott (Arsenal), Barry (Aston Villa), Jenas (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Downing (Middlesbrough), Wright-Phillips (Manchester City); Heskey (Wigan), Crouch (Portsmouth), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth).
