RUSTENBURG, South Africa, June 10, 2010 (AFP) - England go into their World Cup opener against the United States here on Saturday with a restoration job on their hands.
The optimism generated by a qualifying campaign in which Fabio Capello's squad won nine of their ten 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 on Saturday as he completes his recovery from an ankle ligament injury which has 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," he 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."
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 by 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 genuinely 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."
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 favourite to start in goal but it would not be a major surprise if either Joe Hart or David James was on the team-sheet on Saturday.
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," he 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 American 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 under-estimate a squad that reached the final of the Confederations Cup here 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," said Landon Donovan, the LA Galaxy midfielder.
"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. We can win Saturday and not advance to the next round still and we can lose this game and still go through.
"Last year we thought we were out after two games, played well against Egypt and it changed everything."
KEY TO WATCH
Wayne Rooney (ENG) v Jay DeMerit (USA)
If England are to go deep into the knockout stages of this tournament, it is widely accepted that Rooney must be at his best and stay on the pitch. A red card in the 2006 quarter-final proved fatal to their chances of getting past Portugal.
Saturday's match will provide the first indicator of whether Rooney is ready to deliver, in terms of form, fitness and discipline. DeMerit's job will be to stop him and, despite their denials, the Watford centreback and his fellow defenders will inevitably do their best to wind up England's talisman.
