The 30-year-old was one of the first names on the team sheet for both club and country last year, even managing to score England’s first goal in Euro 2012 against France, but has endured a difficult campaign this time out after losing his starting spot to Matija Nastasić in the City side.

The Serbian youngster was brought in by Roberto Mancini on deadline day in the summer after the Citizens agreed a €15m fee with Fiorentina, and since his arrival Lescott has found first team opportunities increasingly hard to come by.

His exclusion is likely to be a concern for Roy Hodgson who is short of experienced options at Centre-back following John Terry’s recent retirement from international football, and Lescott is aware that he needs to be playing games to remain in Hodgson’s thoughts.

“It’s important I stay fit and get back in the team,” Lescott said.

“It’s nice to have played for England but I need to force my way back into our side(Manchester City) first to have a chance of staking a claim for my country.

“It’ll be hard to break back regularly with Matija playing so well.”

Lescott’s omission from the Manchester City team is just the latest in a long line of cases where English players have been overlooked in favour for foreign talent.

The likes of Adam Johnson and Andy Carroll were both forced to seek moves away from some of England’s biggest clubs in the pursuit of first team action during the summer, with both struggling to get any kind of look in at Manchester City and Liverpool respectively last year, and if Lescott continues to be ignored he may have to make a similar switch himself. His potential move could even attract the attention of Fruit Machine Players as he has become a big name in the Premier League.

If he is playing regularly, few would argue against the suggestion that he is one of England’s best options in the heart of the defence but time may be running out for the ex-Everton man to keep his spot.

The Arsenal man will be in the squad for Fridays match and then try and help the side to victory over Ukraine at Wembley four days later.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is part of a relatively young squad, with Roy Hodgson giving the opportunity to players that have not played much international football.

He said: “You want qualifying wrapped up as soon as you can so we’ll be looking to push every game.

The Three Lions will be without both Wayne Rooney and Andy Carroll as both are currently injured.

However, the teenager is not worried about the team scoring goals, highlighting the fact that the team are capable from finding the net from all over the pitch.

The midfielder added: “It’s not just a responsibility on us, there’s a responsibility on everyone – we’re playing for England. There are goals all over the team. I think Phil Jagielka scored in the last game.

“We’ll be all looking to score. I don’t think there’s too much pressure on one individual position.”

The former Southampton man took part in the European Championships over the summer and showed signs that he could be a fantastic player for his national side.

With his raw pace, he will always be a threat for opposition defences and if he managed to get the service right to the forwards in the box – then could be the key for Hodgson’s men on Friday evening.

Football betting experts will see that Moldova are the kind of team that England will feel they should be beating comfortably and if they are anywhere near their best, then they should do just that.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermaine Defoe one of the experienced campaigners in the squad for these qualifiers and he has warned that the side cannot be complacent going into this one.

“I think it will be a difficult game.” he said.

Defoe then added: “You look at the fixtures and some might think it should be an easy game. It’s important to be professional and patient and it helps when you get an early goal.

“It’s going to be difficult and the first 20 minutes will be really important.”

Nasri was punished for shouting “Shut your mouth” to television cameras following his goal in the 1-1 group-stage draw with England in a tirade he later said was aimed at a journalist who wrote a critical article.

He then directed a string of foul-mouthed insults at an AFP journalist after the quarter-final defeat to Spain in Donetsk.

Nasri will now have to sit out World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Belarus in September – though he will be back to face champions Spain the following month.

His first missed match will be an August 15 friendly against Uruguay, which teammate Jeremy Menez will also miss.

Menez, of Paris Saint-Germain, was given a one-match international ban following a spat with captain Hugo Lloris in the game against Spain and for insulting the referee after the same match.

In addition, Newcastle United’s Hatem Ben Arfa and Yann M’Vila, of Rennes, were both issued with warnings.

Nasri, Mvila and Ben Arfa appeared personally before the FFF disciplinary commission, but refused to comment after their hearing.

Lawyer Carlo Alberto Brusa, representing Menez, who is currently on tour in the United States with PSG, described the outcome as “fair” and said he would be advising his client not to appeal.

Ben Arfa — whose father and agent came to blows outside the FFF headquarters on Friday morning — had been called before the disciplinary committee to explain an altercation with then-coach Laurent Blanc in the changing rooms after the 2-0 defeat to Sweden.

M’Vila had been asked to explain his refusal to shake substitute Olivier Giroud and Blanc’s hands when he was replaced against Spain.

A statement released by the disciplinary committee of the FFF added that all or part of the players’ bonuses would be withheld.

The case came two years after France players went on strike during the World Cup in South Africa that led to the suspension of four players, including Nicolas Anelka for a record 18 games, Patrice Evra for five games and Franck Ribery for three.

The players have ten days to appeal the decision.

It is the second spell as national coach for Van Gaal, who has had success leading Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich but failed to take the Netherlands to the 2002 World Cup the first time he was in charge of the team.

The Royal Dutch Football Association said the 60-year-old Van Gaal has signed a contract until the 2014 World Cup.

Van Gaal called the appointment “the challenge I have been waiting for.”

Van Marwijk quit last month after the Netherlands lost all three of its matches at Euro 2012, just two years after the team lost 1-0 to Spain after extra time of the World Cup final in South Africa.

Van Gaal will now likely have to rebuild a team that was criticized in Poland and Ukraine for its leaky defense and misfiring attack.

Van Gaal made his name at Ajax, leading the team to the national title three years running from 1994-96 as well as winning the UEFA Cup in 1992 and Champions League in 1995 with one of the most talented teams the renowned club ever produced.

He moved to Barcelona in 1997, winning the national title twice before returning to the Netherlands in 2000 to lead the national team. The Netherlands lost only two of 14 matches under Van Gaal but failure to qualify for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan prompted him to quit.

He then worked at Ajax and Barcelona again before joining AZ Alkmaar and leading the Dutch team to the league title in 2009. That unexpected success earned him a move to Bayern Munich, leading the club to the domestic league and cup double in 2010 and reaching the final of the Champions League before being fired the next season following a disappointing run of results.

The Dutch FA also announced that one of the key players in Van Gaal’s Champions League-winning Ajax team, Danny Blind, would be the new coach’s assistant.

ROME, Italy  ●   Italy’s footballers were welcomed back by a thousand fans on Monday after defeat by Spain in the Euro 2012 final but said they were already looking forward to the World Cup in 2014.

Arriving on a flight from Krakow in Poland at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, the footballers dressed in suits and ties were greeted with shouts of encouragement and later attended a high-pomp ceremony with President Giorgio Napolitano.

Fans chanted the national anthem and asked the players to autograph a placard reading “Go Italy” before the footballers boarded their buses.

One player, Leonardo Bonucci, admitted  before getting on that there was an overwhelming feeling of disappointment among his team mates.

“There is always sadness because we were there — one step away from the dream, from realising something important,” he sighed.

“Unfortunately we did not manage to impose ourselves against a great team. Now we are leaving this Euro with the will to put into practice the tactics that (coach) Cesare Prandelli taught us,” he said.

“We’ll prepare well for the World Cup” he added, as focus turns towards the qualifiers for the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

At the ceremony in the president’s Quirinale palace, Prandelli said he was grateful to Napolitano for coming to support the team in its first match against Spain in Gdansk and for inviting them over “whatever the result”.

Napolitano was Italy’s “biggest fan” and had helped the team get over their crushing 4-0 defeat, Prandelli said.

The coach added the players were proud to have represented Italy and handed the president the silver medal they brought back.

Team captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon later presented the other members of the team to the 87-year-old president, who stood up one by one as a sign of respect.

Andrea Pirlo and Mario Balotelli also gifted Napolitano a football.

Napolitano expressed his gratitude “on behalf of the institutions and millions of Italians” saying the team’s achievement had been “extraordinary.”

“I could see the passion that fired you up and your love for Italy, which were the best presents you could have given us,” he said.

“This team which has just been rebuilt with so much wisdom still has a long way to go and we will see each other again.”

MADRID, Spain   ●    Spanish players carried the European Championship trophy back to their native land Monday, ready to accept a hero’s welcome and lead their economically troubled nation in a second night of jubilant celebration.

Team captain and goalie Iker Casillas proudly held the cup as he emerged from the plane in Madrid with coach Vicente del Bosque a day after the soccer team’s 4-0 win over Italy. The Iberia plane that brought them from Kiev bore the logo “proud of our national team.”

The players filed off wearing red-and-yellow shirts and blue shorts. They were to meet with King Juan Carlos later in the day, then take an open air bus ride through the Spanish capital to the adulation of tens of thousands. Madrid’s central plaza was all geared up for a victory rally.

Their elegant performance in Sunday’s final raised spirits across a country drowning in financial woes and made them the first team ever to bookend a World Cup championship (2010) with two European Championship triumphs (2008, 2012).

It even had some Spaniards offering a tongue-in-cheek suggestion: Why not have them run the country instead of Spain’s feckless politicians?

In one newspaper cartoon, del Bosque is surrounded by Casillas and other stars such as Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, who are all dressed up in suits for a new line of work.

“The solution to our problems: the government of prime minister Del Bosque and his ministers,” read the vignette in El Mundo.

As the country recovered from a national hangover of elation, pride and booze, Spaniards soaked up sweet memories of a night no one will forget. For a few hours, the realities of 25 percent unemployment, a grinding recession and a banking bailout from the European Union to the tune of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) were put aside.

Maria Jose Herraiz, a 54-year-old homemaker, was so nervous she had to listen to the game on the radio instead of watching it on TV.

“When I heard people scream `Goal!’ I would run to the TV,” she said.

She called the victory marvelous, a potent shot of mood-boosting adrenalin for people sorely in need of it, but said reality would come back soon.

“It will be a sort of flower that blooms for just one day, because economic problems do not go away just because Spain wins,” Herraiz said.

Her two adult children – aged 26 and 28 – are both still living at home. They are struggling on rock-bottom salaries as low as (euro) 300 ($377) a month for half-day work despite being a computer scientist and a physicist. They came home near dawn after a night of celebration, their faces painted in team colors of red and yellow.

Cristina Rivas, a 41-year-old musician, acknowledged that soccer prowess and government have nothing to do with each other but said there was something very special about those fast guys in red. She suggested that Spain’s conservative government was interested only in meeting austerity goals to satisfy the country’s European creditors, no matter how much it hurts the average Joe, or “Fulanito,” as Spaniards would call him.

“Perhaps this team played like a team, and (the government) plays more as if they were protecting a patch of land,” said Rivas.

In between, Thiago Motta was carried off on a stretcher with an injury, leaving Italy with 10 men.

That was when Alessandro Ciron, a 21-year-old economics student, knew it was all over.

“We had been optimistic,” he said as he and his friends left the field, set up with giant TV screens, where Roman gladiators once fought and headed to a bar for a late-night sandwich. “We didn’t think we’d lose 4-0.”

Many fans simply conceded Spain was the better team, and that the Azzurri had been beset by fatigue and bad luck: Motta’s injury and Giorgio Chiellini’s earlier injury, apparently to his left hamstring.

“They were stronger,” said Lorenzo Del Coiro, a 21-year-old wearing an Azzurri T-shirt and his face painted in the colors of the Italian flag. “We didn’t have enough time to recover. And the few chances we had, we couldn’t capitalize on them.”

The Circus Maximus went nearly silent soon after Fernando Torres scored Spain’s third goal in the 84th minute. But even then, Luca Pongetti, a 21-year-old basketball player, continued to wave his Italian flag, proud that the Azzurri had made it to the finals.

“No one expected it, and it’s only right to pay homage to these players,” he said. But as he spoke, Spain scored its fourth goal. “At the fourth goal, I put the flag away,” he said, rolling it up.

Nevertheless, at the end of the game, a great round of applause broke out on the field in appreciation for a tournament final few Italians expected.

Many Spaniards were on the field at Circus Maximus supporting their home team and enduring occasional taunts from the Italian majority. One group of about five danced in the streets as they left the Circus Maximus, and were sprayed with water and pelted with an occasional plastic water bottle by embittered Italians. One was beaten by an Italian wielding a plastic bat, but wasn’t seriously injured.

But after seeing his players reduced to tears following a 4-0 rout by Spain in Sunday’s final, Prandelli can’t bear the thought of leaving them anymore.

“It’s already been written that the project does not stop here, and that it must continue,” Prandelli said. “Of course, my decision also takes into account the loss. It’s impossible to leave now.”

Hired to replace Marcello Lippi after Italy’s embarrassing first-round exit from the 2010 World Cup, Prandelli has a four-year contract that lasts through the 2014 World Cup.

Prandelli acknowledged two days before the final that he was worn down from the match-fixing scandal afflicting the Azzurri back home. He was also upset that Italian clubs did not allow him to hold any mini-training camps with his squad during the season.

Before the final, Italian Olympic Committee President Giovanni Petrucci declared that the Serie A presidents will gather for a meeting to be reminded of the national team’s importance.

“Prandelli has a solid relationship with the federation, and we will try to place him in the best possible conditions to continue a job that has produced great results,” Italian football federation President Giancarlo Abete said.

In two years, Prandelli revolutionized a squad long known for its notorious “catenaccio” – lockdown defense – and instilled an attack-at-all-costs philosophy. He also found a way to coax the best out of temperamental, but potentially explosive players like Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano, who Lippi ignored.

“There’s the disappointment of the final right now, but we can’t forget where we started, how we got to the final and the values that we upheld,” Abete said. “Italian football has returned to the prestigious position where it belongs.”

In 16 competitive matches under Prandelli, the final marked Italy’s first loss.

“When we see the lights of the Kiev stadium from the airplane it will be painful, but tomorrow we’ll have a new outlook,” Prandelli said. “We have shown that you can lose with dignity.”

Italy’s next match is an Aug. 15 friendly with England, which comes four days after the Italian Super Cup between Juventus and Napoli in Beijing.

“We’re going to examine the Super Cup situation very carefully,” Abete said. “We’ve got to create conditions where the national team uses its best men.”

Buffon: All you can do is clap your hands and applaud the others

KIEV, Ukraine   ●    Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon spoke of his disappointment at having missed out on the Euro 2012 title but said he could only congratulate winners Spain.

The world champions were a cut above on the day and romped to a 4-0 thrashing that was accentuated by Italy playing the last half hour a man down after Thiago Motta limped off once coach Cesare Prandelli had already exhausted his substitutions.

By then Italy were already two goals down and reduced to virtual spectators, according to midfielder Daniele De Rossi.

But for Buffon there was no shame in losing to the best.

“For many of our squad it was their first final so that’s why it’s a huge disappointment,” he said.

“But it’s also true that in such an important match when there’s the substantial difference that you saw, all you can do is clap your hands and applaud the others.”

Buffon said he could only think of one other occasion when he had played in a side so totally dominated: a 3-0 Confederations Cup group stage defeat to Brazil in 2009.

“I had a great view of the red waves from the first minute to the last,” said the goalkeeper of Spain’s performance.

“They played with great knowledge of being strong and of what they wanted and knowing that they had already won a lot so they knew how to achieve this type of result.

“And against a team (Italy) that physically was in the red.

“Maybe in the Confederations Cup against Brazil (it was similar), we lost 3-0 and were never in the game, but this is a little different because it was a final.”

Italy had drawn 1-1 with Spain in their opening group game of the tournament in a match that could have gone either way.

Mario Balotelli cries after collecting his medal

But by the time they arrived at the final, they were always playing a day after their opponents and therefore had 24 hours less to prepare.

And when Spain shifted up the gears, they couldn’t respond.

“We played another match like this in the first game of the tournament but we were fresh, agile and fired up. It was a different game, now they’re even stronger,” said Daniele De Rossi.

“The difference was that they’re better and they’re more used to playing at a certain level right to the end (of a tournament).

“But the huge difference (in performance) was also due to physical condition.

“They’re probably better than us and everyone else but they also had difficulties in the tournament.

“There wasn’t such a big difference (in the group game) but it wasn’t a final.

“We could even have won it but (Sunday night) we never had that feeling of being on the same level.

“And when Thiago Motta went off, it was over and we were just looking (helplessly) at each other.”

De Rossi also insisted that after the match-fixing scandal that blighted their preparation before leaving for the Euros, and having been thumped 3-0 by Russia in their only warm-up match, Italy have at least played with pride and improved along the way.

“I’m proud that I was part of this group. The most important thing was igniting the passion of Italians.

“After the scandals before the Euro, we’ve just been professionals who sometimes give emotions but unfortunately the disappointment from not winning is gigantic, but there are also better teams.

“We’ve taken a huge step up. From the first game to the semi-final we improved a lot.

“We ran hard, those who came in always did well, we improved as a group.

“We were a bit cooked for the final and when you’re against the best team in the world you can’t afford to not be 100 percent physically because it goes like this.

“You’re a spectator, less even.”

Tens of thousands gathered in central Madrid to watch their team beat Italy 4-0 and shout out “Gol!” more times than they thought possible. Even better for Spain, the country’s team became the first ever to win a Euro, then a World Cup and then another Euro.

Spain needed “this win to counteract the suffering caused by the crisis, which seems endless,” a smiling Antonio Ferrillo said in downtown Madrid.

The country has the highest unemployment rate in the 17-nation eurozone, is immersed in a deepening recession and recently asked for a bailout to prop up banks that could go broke after a decade-long property boom crashed.

After the triumph, cars drove by with passengers waving the country’s red and yellow flag and yelling “Espana!, Espana!” and “I am Spanish! I am Spanish!”

But the victory gave Spaniards undisputed proof their team is the best in the world, setting off wild celebrations that went past midnight in all corners of the country.

“This is the best thing in the world that could happen,” Vanesa Galilea, a 32-year-old civil servant, said as she danced with friends and thousands more in Madrid’s central Cibeles square. “This generation of soccer players is incredible.”

She added: “Tonight everyone can forget about the crisis, but it won’t disappear, unfortunately. Economically this won’t change anything but at least we will be happy for a while. Half of Spain won’t show up at work tomorrow, that’s for sure!”

Daniel Garcia, a 23-year-old university student, said the result made him proud to be Spanish and hopeful that he may find a job amid dire prospects, with one out of every four Spaniards jobless and the unemployment rate hitting 52 percent for people like him who are under age 25.

“It will be difficult, but maybe this will help raise our spirits and get us out of this crisis,” Garcia said.

Crowds hugged each other, cried and danced with glee after they watched Spain win on a huge screen erected outside the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the home of the Real Madrid club team.

“This is very important for Spain and if it brings the risk premium down tomorrow, all the better,”’ Adrian Barajas, a 35-year-old bank clerk, referring to the skyrocketing risk premium level for Spanish government debt that has raised fears the nation may soon need a full-blown public finances bailout like those accepted by Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

Sunday’s stunning victory “will raise morale for sure, but for three days, no more,” Barajas said. “Spaniards realize this is just soccer.”

Crown Prince Felipe called the win a “joy for Spain” and said he hoped Spaniards would “enjoy what they deserve.”

“Italy is a very competitive team that never gives up. But when we got the third goal and the Italians had their setback with their injured player, comeback was impossible for them,” he told Spain’s Telecinco television network after watching the game from the VIP section in Kiev, Ukraine.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who sat near Prince Felipe during the game, said he hoped the victory would give “comfort” to Spaniards who have been enduring waves of painful austerity measures enacted by his administration. The government has raised taxes, made it cheaper for companies to fire workers and reduced funding for the country’s cherished national health care and public education systems.

“We’re human beings, we have our problems,” Rajoy told Telecinco. “Feelings and joy, and everything that comes out of the soul, is beautiful. We have to thank the team and their coaches, they did very well.”