West Ham Academy Veterans vs Ecuador

With Ferdinand, Carrick, Lampard and Joe Cole all likely to start for England tomorrow the West Ham Academy can rightly claim to be providing the back bone of English football. Obviously it is a shame that all these players were sold by the club but, if we consider the young players that West Ham have now, the future also looks good for West Ham and England.

Of the current West Ham squad Dean Ashton looks like he should break into the international team in the next couple of seasons. Anton Ferdinad and Nigel Reo-Coker are another two young players who I suspect could be representing England at the next world cup.

Looking at the players coming through the ranks at West Ham and we have even more hopeful future internationals. Mark Noble has represented England at under 19 and under 18 level. Hogan Ephraim had a very productive 2004-05 season with the U17s England squad. He made no fewer than 17 appearances and scored nine goals. James Tomkins has made many appearance for the under 17's and Jordan Spence has represented England at under 16 level.