Despite it seemingly being announced every four years, the World Cup 2010 is generally considered to be England’s best chance yet of winning back the trophy they won in 1966. With captain John Terry at his peak, and the athletic full back pairing of Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson – England’s defense seems at its strongest for years. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are also reaching their peak playing years, and the youthful trickery of James Milner, Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott are at manager Fabio Capello’s disposal. The only grey area seems to be who will partner Wayne Rooney in attack, however, Jermaine Defoe has recently been on electric form for Tottenham, therefore he is the current favorite.
The following articles assess England’s forthcoming World Cup campaign, their chances, and the odds currently being offered. We start with a look back on their highly successful qualifying campaign, and how the initial threat of Ukraine and Croatia never materialized. Next, we consider England’s potential squad for South Africa, with places still up for grabs. Will David Beckham be on the flight? Will Gareth Barry partner Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in defense? These questions will remain unanswered until Capello announces his squad, but we allude to the various possibilities. After this, we delve into the world of the USA – whom England play first in South Africa – and assess the quality of their squad, and pick out their individual stars.
Finally we round up the best England odds currently being offered on the football betting market – we look at specific match odds for the first group games, and also assess the outright odds, before concluding with the ‘Top Goalscorer’ prices being on offer.
