• Share

We talked about France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Brazil until now. Today we will review England's team, which is my favourite for this World Cup. I never liked English football and England National Team either, but since I am a big fan of Italy's football, and Fabio Capello took over England, they became a team worthy to watch in my opinion. With many in-form player, a well prepared coach and a bunch of crazy fans, who will do utmost to support them, England seems one of the best team this year.

England was drawed for the C Group, alongside USA, Slovenia and Algeria. This seems a pretty easy group for Capello's team, with probably USA going through also. I don't think England will have problems with any of the teams, and I consider them one of the teams which is probable to reach 9 points in the group stage. They start against USA, then they will play against Algeria and Slovenia. C Group will pair with D Group, where Germany, Australia, Ghana and Serbia are fighting for the two places. As I think Germany and England will both qualify from the first place, it remains to be seen which team England will meet. It's possible to be Serbia, as I see them qualified from the second place. They are a strong team which finished on the first place in the group stage alongside France and Romania.

Fabio Capello (foto, right) is one of the best managers in game now. The Italian only managed four teams in his career, but just wait to see which kind of teams: AC Milan (twice), Real Madrid (twice), AS Roma and Juventus Torino. He is considered one of the most disciplined manager in the world and is well known that he managed to turn England's results the way they should head to. He is not afraid of clamping down on his players if he feels they are not pulling their weight for the team. This is the fact that, probably, helped him on his way to England's current good form.

With many in-form players, like John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney, it seems is not going to be very difficult to select the best eleven. Unfortunately, David Beckham will not be able to apper in England's squad, due to his serious injury suffered on his loan spell at AC Milan. He would have been the only English player called up that is not playing in Premier League. England and Italy are probably the only two teams present at the World Cup that call up players only from their domestic league.  England won the World Cup once in their history, in 1966, when they were also the host country. They never managed to win an European Championship, their best performance being a semi final in 1996, when they were also host country.

Besides other very good players, one of the best strikers in the world (if not the best) right now is Wayne Rooney (foto), Manchester United's number 10. The whole nation waits a fantastic performance from the forward and can't wait to see it dressing the white T-Shirt again. A default England team would look like that, in my opinion (4-5-1, from left to right):

Goalkeeper: Robert Green

Defenders: Leighton Baines, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand (captain), Wes Brown

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard, Theo Walcott

Striker: Wayne Rooney.

England suffers a little bit in the goal. The most experience goalkeeper is Portsmouth's David James, but he is 39 years old and I don't think he is suitable enough anymore to be in the first eleven. That's why I've selected West Ham's Robert Green, aged 30. The defence looks very good, with two players from Manchester United and Chelsea's captain John Terry. Wayne Bridge would be more suitable for the left back spot, but he retired from the NT since the scandal involving John Terry and his wife. The midfield is great, with good payers, mixing intelligence, fitness and creativity. It's probably the best midfield of a team present at the World Cup. What can we say more about the attack? With a striker like Wayne Rooney ever team in the world is beatable. I, myself, can't wait to see him in action in South Africa. He may also be the competition's top scorer, if England will reach the semi finals at least.

In my opinion England is the favourite team for the competition. I would really like England to win because they have lots of quality players, a smart manager and a lovely crowd. I've never seen England so full of desire to win a competition like this year. Italy won the World Cup in 2006 after the Calciopoli scandal in Serie A. Will England win the World Cup after the Terry - Bridge scandal in the English Premier League?