*TONIGHT* -
2.30 AM
England launch their World Cup campaign against the United
States with manager Fabio Capello fixing his sights on the
final.
Capello admits he is living a dream as he carries the hopes of
his adopted nation on to football's biggest stage.
On Friday night, he declared James Milner fit to play in
England's first match. The midfielder has missed two days training
this week with a stomach virus.
Come on England: Captain Steven Gerrard knows the
nation expects a good start against the United States in
Rustenburg
The news means Milner will almost certainly start ahead of Joe
Cole as Capello looks to the Aston Villa midfielder to provide
extra defensive cover for Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the
centre.
On Friday night, after watching his team train here, Capello
said: 'I am a normal man. But, yes, my job is important at this
moment because the World Cup is important for the country, the
fans.
'I understand perfectly it is a tough job - not only for me but
for all managers - because you can feel that, behind you, you have
a whole country. I feel a great responsibility. I feel a nation,
the whole people, but I always like difficult things.
Talking tactics: Fabio Capello goes through his
pre-match instructions with his England squad
'It is a dream. It was a dream to be England manager and I hope
the next dream comes off, too. Why not?
'In my career as a manager, I have built teams, worked with
teams, with players, and I have always been focused to win.
'That's all that matters to me - to win and get to the final. In
my mind, we play to win. That's all. I exist to win.
'The challenge is to win. Anything else is just words. We have
to win. No more. It is fantastic for me. Exciting.'
But Capello gave a warning to his star striker, saying: 'Wayne
Rooney played all the qualifying games for the World Cup and had no
problems with the referees. I hope we see the same Rooney during
the World Cup. I have spoken with him but Rooney is a fantastic
player because he wants to win. But you have to be careful every
time and you have to be careful and respect referees.'
England are itching for their games to begin after two weeks in
a training camp in Austria and 10 days at their World Cup camp in
Rustenburg.
Capello, who played for Italy in their disappointing 1974 World
Cup campaign and was omitted four years later, said: 'When you
arrive here it's completely different. You have to live for one
month with policemen, press conferences every day, TV, everything,
at every moment.
'You switch on the television and it is all about the World Cup.
There is really strong pressure from the media. We have to live
with this pressure. It is not easy. But I try. We try.'
The manager said he will tell his players the team just before
they leave for the stadium today and called for England fans to
rally behind the side as they did in the qualifying campaign.
Return to fitness: Gareth Barry is back for England
but will not start against the United States but James Milner (R)
could after recovering from illness
'My team, I think, is OK,' he said.
'We have arrived at a good moment. We trained really well, we
spoke with the players.
'The players will be really focused. The altitude and the balls
are terrible… terrible. It's impossible to control when you play
long balls, but I hope I can help the players to be perfect. Also,
the performance like a team will be really good.
'Usually the first game is hard because the expectation and
pressure is big.
'We are sure we can go forward in this competition. The biggest
challenge is to win.'
Raring to go: Wayne Rooney prepares for England's
opening Group C clash
Capello said Gareth Barry would start on the bench, and the
manager is also seriously considering a first competitive
appearance for rookie goalkeeper Joe Hart, although he remains
concerned by the 23-year-old's lack of experience and may well yet
turn to Robert Green.
He has already dismissed David James amid concerns about his
knee. Capello appears to think the problem has damaged the
39-year-old's confidence in training.
Hart has been the best of the three keepers all season as well
as the best in training since the squad flew out to Austria.
Up front, Emile Heskey is almost certain to get the nod ahead of
Peter Crouch for the place alongside Rooney.
Crouch has scored 21 goals in 38 internationals but Rooney, in
his last nine starts with Heskey, has scored nine goals.
