Defoe admits to pressure

Spurs man happy to avoid 'Group of Death'

By Danny Wright   Last updated: 5th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Defoe admits to pressure

Defoe: Happy with draw

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Jermaine Defoe says the pressure is on the England squad to progress from their World Cup group comfortably.

England were pitched against the United States, Algeria and Slovenia for their opening round of matches in Group C.

The draw looks favourable to Fabio Capello's side, who are expected to do well at the finals in South Africa next summer.

The Tottenham striker warned that the games would not be straightforward, but admitted he was relieved that England did not get a tougher draw.

"To win a World Cup you're going to have to play all the best teams anyway to go on and win it," Defoe told Sky Sports News.

"No games are easy and if you look at the games in our group it's still going to be hard.

"Everyone expects us to win the games but they're still going to be hard games (and) you've just got to go in there and be professional."

Capello's side will take on the USA in their first group match on 12th June in Rustenburg, which is thought to be the location of England's training camp.

The Three Lions will then travel to Cape Town to face Algeria in 18th June before concluding their Group C matches against Slovenia five days later in Port Elizabeth.

Problems

On paper, only the USA should provide England with problems given their 14th place ranking in the Fifa standings.

Bob Bradley's side also ended Spain's 35-match unbeaten run with a 1-0 win in the Confederations Cup and will no doubt provide a stern test for Capello's hopefuls.

The States possess Premier League quality in their ranks, with the likes of Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey featuring regularly for Everton and Fulham respectively.

Algeria lie 28th in the rankings and are making their third appearance in the World Cup finals, meanwhile Slovenia make up the final team in Group C.

The two sides met in a recent friendly at Wembley, where England ran out 2-1 winners.

But Defoe was confident his team-mates could avoid any potential upsets.

"I believe that we can win the games. Obviously it helps to be in a group like that - no disrespect to the other teams," he added.

"As England players we'll take that but you look at the other groups, particularly Brazil, Portugal and the Ivory Coast and it's a difficult group.

"At the end of the day it's the highest stage and every game's hard. It's international level."