Rooney: Capello The Key in FIFA World Cup 2010


Wayne Rooney says Fabio Capello will leave 'no stone unturned' in his efforts to make England winners of the FIFA World Cup™ next summer.

The Manchester United striker claims the England head coach's attention to detail and confidence-building will stand the team in good stead when they go to South Africa.

England kick off the campaign against the USA on Saturday 12 June, just down the road from their training base in Rustenburg. The next two games are against Algeria in Cape Town on 18 June and then the final group game against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on 23 June.

"If the qualifying phase is anything to go by, the manager and his staff will leave no stone unturned and we, the players, will all know what is expected of us before the first ball is kicked," said Rooney.

"The team is full of confidence at present and that comes from the belief the manager has instilled in us. One of his many strengths is the confidence he gives you as an individual. It will be interesting to see him at work during the tournament, as I said before, his attention to detail is amazing."

Rooney rates the USA as England's main rivals and picked out Everton keeper Tim Howard as a key player.

"I don't think you can take anyone for granted who has reached the World Cup finals and our opening fixture against the USA will be a test," said Rooney.

"They have lots of World Cup finals experience and their players are playing all over the world. Tim Howard is a top keeper and has fantastic experience from his time at Manchester United and now with Everton.

"I really like Clint Dempsey as a player, I think he is a constant threat when he plays for Fulham and then there is Landon Donovan who I think is one of those players who can make things happen in a game, so there is no doubt that this will be a tough opening game."

Rooney described Algeria as being "a team full of skill and flair" and was also impressed by Slovenia when they played a friendly at Wembley in September.

He said: "They were a team with plenty of ability and, most importantly, they can keep hold of the ball for long periods which is a definite plus at international level. So there will be no easy games and we will have to be at the top of our game to be successful."

Rooney believes that his experience of winning the Premier League and Champions League since the last FIFA World Cup will help him deal with the pressure of next summer. He added: "My experience of playing in big games has increased dramatically and my experience of winning trophies has greatly improved.

"Since the last World Cup, I have been involved in winning Premier Leagues and Champions League finals and there is no substitute for that type of experience."

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