Roy Hodgson’s England squad will arrive in the Algarve on Monday as they prepare for this summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil. The five-day training camp in Vale do Lobo will help to prepare the squad before they depart for Miami USA on their way to South America.
Wayne Rooney and several other players have already arrived to soak up a few days of sun before getting down to work. At Monday’s press conference, Hodgson said:
“Wayne is so determined to be up and running when we get to Portugal next week. He’s going on holiday and he’s not alone. A few of them are going out to Portugal, that’s where they go on their week off as a number have properties there. They don’t all go to Dubai and Las Vegas.”
Hodgson insisted there were no fitness worries over Rooney and revealed the 28-year-old had taken it on himself to ensure he was in peak condition.
The squad is considerably younger that the one that did so dismally in the last World Cup.
Whether they have the experience to take on the might of Brazil, Spain and Germany is another issue. The full squad is: Hart, Foster, Forster, Baines, Cahill, Jagielka, Johnson, Jones, Shaw, Smalling, Barkley, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Lampard, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling, Wilshere, Lambert, Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck
On standby: Ruddy, Cleverley, Flanagan, Carroll, Stones, Defoe and Carrick.
By CHRIS WRIGHT
