In the midfield, Albertini had retired from the Italian national team a while ago. George Wood was not selected for Eriksson's English team. Although Ribéry had performed well in the Premier League this season, he did not receive the French manager Domenech's attention. Ashley Young and Aaron Lennon had only played for the England national youth team. Mikel Arteta, who had played overseas for a long time, had never been selected for the Spanish national team.