English have a good feeling about chances in World Cup
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LONDON — The bustling stretch of commerce along Kilburn High Road in northwest London is ethnically diverse, with more than 70% of the people who live and work there coming from somewhere else.
Come June 12, however, nearly everybody here will be English — at least for a day. Because that’s the day England meets the U.S. in its World Cup opener. And once again hopes for England’s team are riding high.
Shopkeepers up and down the boulevard proudly fly the St. George’s Cross, the emblem of England dating to the Crusades. Soccer balls, T-shirts, beer cans and soft-drink bottles on display in the crowded storefronts all carry logos of the national team while the betting parlors mixed in among the small grocery stores have England favored to reach the semifinals, something it has done only once in the last 44 years.
“I’d like to see them do well,” says Petra Venclova, whose loyalties would lie with her native Czech Republic had it made the 32-team tournament. “People are starting to get very excited.”
Fanning that excitement is England’s Italian-born coach, Fabio Capello, who told reporters at England’s training base that his team can win the World Cup.
“You have to have confidence to win the World Cup. I have big confidence in my team,” said Capello, whose squad warmed up with an easy 3-1 win over Mexico in its farewell match Monday in front of a sellout crowd of more than 88,000 at Wembley Stadium. “I think my team, my England team, can beat all the other teams. I am sure the players think that too.”
If so, then Capello is a major source of that confidence. One of the most successful club coaches in history, Capello was hired to resurrect the English program after a disastrous campaign when it failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championship.
Under its new head man, the team, now ranked eighth in the world, responded quickly by winning nine times in 10 matches and scoring 34 goals in Cup qualifying. So even though it will go to South Africa without the injured David Beckham and without Michael Owen, the country’s active leading goal-scorer, England’s new star, Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, says Capello has restored the team’s swagger.
But Capello has a lot of work to do between now and then.
Rooney, the team’s leading scorer in qualifying, isn’t 100% after injuring an ankle two months ago, and defender Rio Ferdinand, the team captain, has been slowed by back and groin problems. As a result, Ferdinand played only a half against Mexico on Wembley’s infamously soft turf and Rooney spent the final minutes begging to come out.
Then there’s Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry, whose availability for South Africa remains uncertain even after he had his damaged ankle examined by a specialist Monday.
Capello is also undecided on a starting goalkeeper and has seven players to trim from his squad by June 1, the deadline for submitting final World Cup rosters to FIFA.
Mexican Coach Javier Aguirre also faces some tough decisions before his country’s World Cup opener. Striker Carlos Vela had called Monday’s match “an important test.”
It turned out to be one Mexico failed.
Although neither team played good defense, Mexico allowed England’s attackers — especially 6-foot-7 Peter Crouch — to have their way. Crouch scored one first-half goal and assisted on another by Ledley King, both times redirecting the ball with headers after out-leaping 6-foot-3 defender Francisco Javier Rodriguez.
Mexico’s lone goal came from Guillermo Franco in first-half stoppage time, but it was negated two minutes into the second half on a left-footed strike from Glen Johnson, who dribbled through half the Mexican defense before firing from just outside the box.
Now Mexico has only one day to prepare for another stern tuneup against the Netherlands on Wednesday.
As for the confident Capello, he too found plenty worth correcting Monday.
“I spoke with the players,” he said. “I said what we have to do. We are focused on the first [World Cup] game we have to play against the U.S.”
