England goalkeeper David James is relishing the prospect
of facing Fernando Torres again for the second time in five days,
as the Three Lions aim to use Spain’s European Championship success
as a platform on which to build confidence for the 2010 World
Cup.
England travel to Seville on Wednesday night as Fabio Capello’s
men look to continue their recent good form, which has seen them
make an impressive start to their World Cup qualifying campaign,
proudly sitting top of Group Six.
And Portsmouth goalkeeper James, who was beaten in the dying
moments by Torres in Saturday evening’s Premier League encounter
with Liverpool, is determined that England will not fall to a
similar fate.
“Fernando Torres, as he proved last weekend with seemingly the
clock running out, is capable of producing some magic and is an
outstanding player,” he said.
“He’s sharp, strong and his youthful pretty boy looks are just a
façade when it comes to his playing – he’s as physical and
aggressive as some of the hardened players people talk
about.”
But while Torres could be pinpointed as Spain’s major threat, James
believes England would be wrong to focus solely on the Liverpool
striker.
“The difficulty is, as good as Fernando can be, you get drawn to
one player, it’s another player who inevitably scores the goals or
becomes a problem.”
The 38-year-old, who is set to make his 46th appearance for his
country in Seville, feels there is now a new confidence spreading
around the camp, with the squad keen to make up for previous
failings.
“The crop of players we’ve got now is pretty much the same nucleus
as England have had for the last eight years," he says. "Eight
years ago it was considered the golden generation which some people
might say underachieved, some people might say were unlucky.
“We’ve got a different man in charge now who is a fantastic manager
and seems, as far as the competitive games, to be getting the right
results for the team.
“He’s established a level of belief, which has possibly been
missing. The team from eight years ago was so talented but just
missed that missing factor and it seems that Mr Capello has brought
that in now.”
The England side has been criticised in recent years for being
arrogant, but James is quick to dismiss this view, believing the
current crop are determined to prove the doubters wrong.
“We are confident, we’re not big-headed, but unfortunately with
confidence some people might see it as touch of arrogance,” he
says.
And, beginning with Wednesday’s night friendly, James is adament
Capello can lead England to glory, eclipsing Spain's success of
Euro 2008 by triumphing in South Africa in 2010.
“As European Champions, I'm sure they will be looking to extend
their run of success, which we want to mirror or even surpass in
the next 18 months,” he says.
“I continually say how good Mr Capello is as a manager – he seems
to be able to put the squad right and even with injuries he can get
the best out of the team."
And as far as James’ international future is concerned, he has no
intentions of hanging up his England gloves anytime soon.
“Unfortunately club football has not been as successful as I
perhaps would have liked it to have been so far but the
international scene was left on a very sweet note,” he says.
“I am as hungry now as ever and, if anything, the international
winter break has made me even hungrier. I’m happy to be involved
and long may that continue.”