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Pick Your Team Special: England and Liverpool legend John Barnes would start Peter Crouch up front against the USA
Joe Cole also tipped for starting berth by former wing wonder
By Amar Singh in Rustenburg
England and Liverpool legend John Barnes today names the eleven men whom he believes must start for the Three Lions in their first World Cup 2010 match against the USA on Saturday night.
Barnes, who won 79 England caps, told Goal.com UK: "I think Fabio Capello will have to play two systems in this tournament. Against the weaker teams, and I regard all of England's group opponents in this category, he can play 4-4-2 with Gerrard and Lampard in midfield. "
The 46-year-old - who is in the country to promote MARS, the official England snack supplier, and is a pundit on South African TV - added: "But against the better sides in the latter stages of the tournament he should bring in Gareth Barry or Michael Carrick into midfield and Steven Gerrard can push up and play just behind Wayne Rooney. Gerrard's versatility will be the key. Defensive midfielder in the early stages to playing behind the front man later on."
Do you agree with the line-up selected by Barnes? Let us know who you think should start for England in the comment box below...
4-4-2
David James
Barnes says: "No keeper has
made that shirt his own so
I would give it to the man
with the most experience."
| RIGHT-BACK |
CENTRE BACK |
CENTRE BACK |
LEFT-BACK |
Glen Johnson "Essential to have full-backs that attack. Glen adds an extra dimension to the team." |
Ledley King "More mobile than other centre-backs in the squad and is comfortable with the ball at his feet." |
John Terry "He's not skipper but Terry will lead the team and marshal the defence." |
Ashley Cole "A no brainer. One of the best left-backs in the world and gets forward." |
| RIGHT MIDFIELD |
CENTRE MIDFIELD |
CENTRE MIDFIELD |
LEFT MIDFIELD |
Aaron Lennon "Lots of pace, and has that extra bit of quality over rival Wright-Phillips." |
Frank Lampard "A true attacking midfielder, against the USA, Lampard can do damage." |
Steven Gerrard "He will hold and sit back, allowing Lampard to get forward." |
Joe Cole "Can tuck into midfield, make England more solid and allow Ashley Cole to attack." |
| CENTRE FORWARD |
CENTRE FORWARD |
Wayne Rooney "It wouldn't surprise me if he is targeted by the opposition at the World Cup. All the top players are. Rooney must respond with performance." |
Peter Crouch "Crouch offers an aerial threat and his excellent scoring record gives him the edge over Emile Heskey." |
Click here for the England v USA Match Preview.
No trip to South Africa is complete without a visit to its most beautiful and sunniest city. Durban offers much more than sandy beaches, safaris, casinos and the World Cup, for information on what to do and see, please click here.
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Hosted by Joe Doyle
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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