The role of England’s star name Wayne Rooney may be in question but at least the Manchester United star gets the backing of his team-mates.
That is perhaps more than could be said for Kevin Kampl, one of the key players in the Slovenia side who host England on Tuesday, who has been labelled a “deserter” by his own international team-mates.
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Kampl withdrew from the Slovakia-England double header, the first of which Slovenia won 1-0, citing exhaustion. The 25-year-old has started every match for his club side this season.
“I always play with pride and happiness for Slovenia and I intend to do so in the future,” Kampl said. “Second, I have made it clear I will be available next time, I just need some rest now.
“Third, I swear that at the moment I am not in the right condition to help Slovenia.
“Yes, I have trained in Leverkusen but only on my own and I am having some blood test because I don’t feel good: I am exhausted. I wouldn’t have been able to help Slovenia like this and I stand by my decision.”
His Slovenian team-mates have voiced their displeasure at Kampl and offered no sympathy to his claims of exhaustion.
In a joint statement the squad said: “For the national team you play with pride and passion.
“Kevin is an important part of a team that needs him now.
“So we have to say that he has deserted all of us. The national team has to be above the entire team. We are united in this message to Kampl.”
Slovenia sit third in Group F after a win and draw from their opening two games. Their last meeting with England came just over a year ago in Ljubljana, Jack Wilshere scoring twice and Wayne Rooney netting late on in a 3-2 win for the visitors.
