England raring to rip into Germany

The tension dispelled, a united England speed across South Africa's magnificent landscape to Bloemfontein, the City of Roses, for a familiar and formidable challenge they believe they can rise to.

Suddenly the horizon looks far more promising for England. Every hour on Friday seemed to bring encouraging updates. In the morning, Wayne Rooney was in such devastating form during shooting practice that David James shouted: "We've got to stop here, we've got a game on Sunday."

As well as confirming that Rooney, Aaron Lennon and Michael Carrick had all recovered from slight ankle knocks, Capello revealed that Ledley King had made a swift recovery from his groin problem.