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As England prepared for their rumble in the jungle against Italy on June 14th, The Three Lions squad are currently in Miami training for the World Cup. Here's some news and notes from camp:
Lampard to captain England; Hodgson to experiment
In what could be his final round of duty for England, Frank Lampard is set to skipper the side in the upcoming friendly against Ecuador. This will be Lampard's 104th cap for England.
James Milner, England's utility man will be playing as a right back in the aforementioned friendly. With Glen Johnson looking less than convincing, Milner could be the solution to Hodgson's right back headache.
Meanwhile Wayne Rooney will be playing on the left wing despite his own admission years ago that he's uncomfortable playing out wide. This is what Hodgson has to say about Rooney:
"I think Wayne's a very useful player in the sense you don't have to pin him down and say this is the only position he can play."
"He can play centre-forward, behind the centre-forward and wide. If he's done all of those things at the very top level for Manchester United, there is no reason why I can't use him in those positions as well."
Gerrard: England practicing penalties
The England skipper has revealed that the squad is practicing penalties "a lot", but is not obsessed with spot kicks.
" I understand the fixation because we've failed a few but don't get carried away with it."
England squad full of enthusiasm
That's according to Arsenal and England winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Citing the youth of the squad is exciting and brings an element of freshness to the team. The winger who is working towards full fitness after suffering a groin injury near the end of the season.
Foster excited; said training is brutal
Ben Foster, recalled for national team duty after a self-imposed exile due to family reason said that he is "excited" to taste his first experience of a major tournament. He also added that training has been brutal:
"When we were in Portugal we wore underarmour, t-shirts, zip-up tops, and a wet top over that."
"When it was 22 degrees (centigrade) the lads were losing 2kg in sweat in every training session. We are trying to replicate the heat and humidity (of Brazil)."
Don't be surprise to see a slimmed down version of England players come kick-off time in Manaus.
Lack of world class talent a concern
Sir Bobby Charlton, a World Cup winner with England in 1966 does not think that England can win the World Cup in Brazil. He believes that the lack of world class talent is a concern, adding that the development of young English players has been hindered by the influx of foreign talent in the Premier League.
MANDATORY SELFIE!
Courtesy of Jack Wilshere (via Jack Wilshere's Instagram account):
