England go into their World Cup opener against the US today with a restoration job on their hands.
The optimism generated by a qualifying campaign in which Fabio Capello’s squad won nine of their 10 matches and scored 34 goals seems to have drained away in the last few weeks, injuries and sub-standard friendly displays combining to erode morale and self-belief.
A training ground collision has deprived Capello of his captain, Rio Ferdinand, and Gareth Barry, a pivotal midfielder for the Italian, will not be risked today as he completes his recovery from an ankle ligament injury that threatened to rule him out of the entire tournament.
Warm-up friendlies against Mexico and Japan produced victories without instilling any confidence that Capello’s squad is ready to compete with the world’s best for the biggest prize in sport.
Barry’s injury has opened the door for Joe Cole to make his first England appearance since September 2008 and the midfielder does not believe anyone should read too much into the squad’s patchy pre-tournament displays, pointing out that impressive displays before the last World Cup did not result in the squad excelling in Germany.
“Warm-up games games are always difficult,” Cole said “Before the last World Cup, we beat Jamaica and Hungary and we were brilliant. So maybe it is not a bad thing that we are not firing on all cylinders.”
PHOTO: AFP
Cole was one of the few England players to do himself justice in Germany, where England went out after a quarter-final penalty shoot-out defeat to Portugal, having failed to live up to all the hype that surrounded a supposedly golden generation of players.
Four years on, England’s hopes are in the hands of essentially the same group of individuals, but Cole appears convinced that, with Capello issuing the orders, things will be different this time around.
“This squad has got the experience of being in tournaments before, it’s got a fit Wayne Rooney, a fit Steven Gerrard and everyone is coming to that right age,” he said. “I believe we can do it, I’m convinced we can do it. I’ve got faith in the boys. If we can have that bit of luck that you are going to need, then we can go all the way.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
One thing that is certainly different under Capello is that no-one can ever be sure of what his line-up will be given the Italian’s preference for keeping his players guessing — and working to earn their place — until the last possible minute.
Robert Green is the favorite to start in goal, but it would not be a surprise if either Joe Hart or David James was on the team-sheet today.
Ledley King is expected to fill Ferdinand’s boots, Emile Heskey is expected to be preferred to Peter Crouch as a forward partner for Rooney and Aaron Lennon seems to be marginally ahead of Shaun Wright-Phillips in the battle for the slot on the right of midfield.
“It keeps everyone on their toes,” Cole said. “When players are not being picked on reputations and the manager is choosing his team solely on form, fitness and temperament, that is when you get the better team ethic and things gel together.”
The mood music from the US camp suggests they would happily settle for a draw with a view to securing their passage to the second round at the expense of Slovenia and Algeria.
England though would be foolish to underestimate a squad that reached the final of the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year, eliminating Spain before losing 3-2 to Brazil in the final.
“We know we have the ability to be special and the focus is on bringing that out of us every time we play, but we also have to be aware of the the bigger picture in that this is just one of three games which are all equally important,” said Landon Donovan, the LA Galaxy midfielder. “We can win Saturday and not advance to the next round still, and we can lose this game and still go through.”
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