Fabio Capello believes England must arrive with a fully-fit squad if they are to claim World Cup glory.
England boss feels World Cup squad must be firing on all cylinders
Fabio Capello believes England must arrive in South Africa with a fully-fit squad if they are to achieve World Cup glory.
David Beckham and Wayne Rooney were in a race against time to be fit for the last two tournaments and despite making the squad, neither were at their best.
Rooney and Steven Gerrard were ruled out of club duty this weekend having both suffered minor injuries as England wrapped up their successful qualifying campaign this week.
Coach Capello will now be hoping there are no serious injuries to his top players in the countdown to 11th June as he admits England cannot afford to carry any passengers.
"I have been to a World Cup," said Capello, who was a member of Italy's highly-fancied 1974 squad which was dumped out in the first round.
"You must know what you have to do on the pitch and the style you have to play. But you also have to arrive fit.
Fitness
"This is the most important thing. Really fit. Fit, fit, fit. Only after that can you create the spirit of the group.
"I have said a lot of times, we can win against all the teams," he added.
"I have a lot of confidence in my players. But it depends on their form when we get to the World Cup.
"At this point of the season we are really strong. It is not easy to play against us because physically we are at our peak.
"But the Premier League, Champions League and the FA Cup are really important. You have to expend a lot of energy trying to win them and it is possible some players will not arrive at the World Cup in a very good condition."
But should the injury curse strike, Capello is eager to ensure England are equipped to deliver a back-up plan.
Whereas before the nation has tended to build the team's hopes around key players, Capello wants to ensure that England are not reliant upon their star names.
"It is important not to just be about one player," he said.
"I like Rooney. But people have to understand we are one team, not one player.
Back-up plan
"We can play with a different style. Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor are different to the other players but they are both dangerous. And they both score goals."
With the qualifiers now complete, Capello's attention has turned to the prestigious friendly with Brazil in Qatar on 14th November.
England were swept aside in a friendly against European champions Spain in February and now their Italian boss wants to assess his charges against the other World Cup co-favourites.
"The Brazil game is important because it will allow me to understand what happens against the South American countries," he said.
"They have a different style. Their technique is really good. They are good one-on-one. They dribble.
"They also use their imagination. More than anything, that is the different style of the South American players. We have to understand what is going to happen."
