LONDON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- England manager Gareth Southgate has announced the team's 26-man squad for Euro 2024 with Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish both missing out on the tournament in Germany.
Southgate had picked a 33-man squad for training in May before making the decision to omit Manchester United defender Maguire, Manchester City midfielder Grealish and five other players.
Maguire, 31, sustained a calf injury in April and Southgate said the decision on the central defender was entirely based on his recovery from injury.
"He wouldn't have been available for the group stages and there were lots of hurdles to clear before it was clear whether anything further than that would be possible. We don't have a clear bill of health across the backline and we need players who are fit and ready to go," said Southgate.
Maguire said he was devastated about missing out on the Euros. "Despite my best efforts, I've not been able to overcome an injury to my calf. Maybe I pushed myself too hard, to try and make it. Simply, I am absolutely gutted," he wrote on social media.
As for Grealish, who had just lifted the Premier League trophy with Manchester City, as well as Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison, Southgate said he had better options in their positions.
"We have some players that have performed extremely well this season and other players have had stronger seasons,"he said.
"Madders [Maddison] and Jack [Grealish] give us something different but we back our decisions. We've been over and over it as staff and we back our rationale. They are both big characters and great to work with so it's sad we have to deliver that news to them," he added.
As the runners-up of last European Championships, England will play a friendly against Iceland in London on Friday before heading to Germany for their opening group match against Serbia on June 16.
England's two other opponents in Group C are Denmark and Slovenia. ■
