D-day looms for Capello

"I have decided on my goalkeeper and I know the 11 that will play Saturday."
England coach Fabio Capello is in no doubt who his firt XI will be to face the USA in Rustenburg on Saturday.

Fabio Capello knows England have come a long way since his first game in charge against Switzerland in February 2008 - tomorrow he will begin to find out exactly how far.

On their knees following the failure to reach UEFA EURO 2008, the Three Lions tackle the United States in their FIFA World Cup™ opener in Rustenburg with their coach believing it is time to start roaring again.

"We have improved a lot since Switzerland. We found the spirit and we have found a different way of playing each game. The players know me better and we have changed a lot. But it is different here. It is not one game. For this reason we have to be focused all the time. We have to understand what we have to do in each game," he said.

What England have to do is fairly simple. Victory against USA would put them in pole position to finish top of a group that also contains Algeria and Slovenia and therefore book a last-16 encounter in Rustenburg, where England are presently based and where they will face the United States.

Capello has already satisfied himself about a line-up which remains unknown to the wider world, and probably the players themselves. But he looks likely to include Robert Green in the problematic goalkeeping position.

"I have decided on my goalkeeper and I know the 1I that will play Saturday," he said.

The question remains whether Capello's mind was changed by Monday's first-half performance against the Platinum Stars. Seven members of England's predicted starting line-up were also in the team that began a 3-0 win that was only brought to life thanks to Wayne Rooney's efforts.

John Terry claimed afterwards that Capello had been more angry than at any stage of his tenure when he admonished his players at the interval, although it seems the Italian understands why England were so poor.

"I was annoyed with the first half on Monday because I did not see the right spirit on the pitch. But I understand why because the players had seen a lot of people get injured during this period of friendly games.

"For that reason we did not make tackles and we won the ball back too slowly. It was like a soft training session and I did not like this too much. But at our training camp, I saw everything that we need."

source: www.fifa.com

Gary Neville has questioned England manager Fabio Capello's decision to pick Liverpool's Glen Johnson as his sole right-back for the World Cup

Johnson has established himself as England's first-choice right-back under Capello, but suffered an injury-interrupted second half of the season.

And Neville said: "I'm surprised there is only one right-back in the squad."

Neville also labelled attempts to lure Paul Scholes out of international retirement "a bit desperate".

Despite failing in his attempt to bring Scholes back into the England fold, Capello did persuade Liverpool's Jamie Carragher to return to the squad three years after his own international retirement.

And although Carragher has played the majority of his career at centre-back, his ability to cover either full-back position was seemingly key in Capello's decision to overlook Manchester United's Neville and Wes Brown.

However, Neville argued that Brown, who started at right-back when England beat Egypt in their last fixture as Johnson recovered from knee ligament damage, was unlucky to miss out.

"I wouldn't say I'm overly disappointed not to be named in the initial 30-man squad, although I did think there was maybe a chance I could get in," added Neville, who made 15 Premier League starts last season but failed to add to his 85 England caps.

"I'm probably more surprised Wes Brown isn't in the 30, to be honest."

Scholes, who retired from international football in 2004, appeared set for a return of his own before eventually rejecting Capello's overtures.

And Neville admitted that courting Scholes made sense, even if it was unlikely to succeed.

"I'm not surprised Capello tried to get him out of retirement because if there's one player I would try to pull out of retirement it's Scholes," Neville said of his team-mate and fellow 35-year-old.

"Capello maybe got a bit desperate at the last minute and wanted Scholes because he's still probably the best midfielder in England, but Scholes decided to stick to his guns."

Meanwhile, Manchester City have confirmed that midfielder Gareth Barry has been sleeping in an oxygen tent in an attempt to speed up his recovery from an ankle injury.

Capello remains hopeful that Barry will be fit for England's second World Cup group game against Algeria on 18 June.

Before that the Italian is set to assess defenders Ledley King and Jamie Carragher in the sold-out friendly against Mexico at Wembley on 24 May.

Neither have played for England since the end of Steve McClaren's reign in 2007.