Andrew Johnson faces a nervous month of waiting after being named as one of five standby players for England's World Cup squad
But he misses out on reaching the full squad after England boss Sven Goran Eriksson handed a place to untested, uncapped 17-year-old Theo Walcott.
Eriksson has named only four strikers in his 23-man provisional squad – including Walcott along with Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Peter Crouch.
With both Owen and Rooney currently injured, that opens up the very real possibility of England starting their tournament on June 10th with two strikers that can claim just five caps and one goal between them.
Walcott moved to Arsenal in January of this year, but has never played a Premiership match, let alone earned an England cap.
His only first-team experience anywhere comes from 13 starts for Southampton in the Championship this season.
AJ is joined on the standby list by fellow striker Jermain Defoe. Both players will be seen as cover to be called upon should Wayne Rooney's metatarsal injury worsen.
Eriksson is able to swap out injured players up until 24 hours before England's first game in Germany.
There were plenty of surprises throughout the rest of the squad – with Stewart Downing, Jermaine Jenas and uncapped Aaron Lennon all making the cut.
Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ledley King and Darren Bent all miss out completely.
The squad in full
Keepers:
Paul Robinson (Tottenham), David James (Manchester City), Robert Green (Norwich)
Defenders:
Gary Neville (Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
Midfielders:
David Beckham (Real Madrid), Michael Carrick (Tottenham), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)
Strikers:
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
On standby:
Scott Carson (Liverpool), Luke Young (Charlton), Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Andrew Johnson (Crystal Palace)