One of the most gifted players to ever grace a football pitch; Dennis Bergkamp scores an unbelievable goal for Holland in the 1998 World Cup quarter finals.

..and what about that commentary!?

The most famous bit of footballing commentary ever as England clinch a 4th goal in the dying seconds of the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany.

One of the greatest goals in the history of the World Cup – Maradona goes on an amazing run through the England team and finishes past the keeper for his second goal of the match.

Under Capello, England took the 2010 World Cup qualification stage by storm – winning 9/10 matches in the group. Seemingly without breaking a sweat, the England team powered through the likes of Croatia, Andorra and Kazakhstan, only losing once away to the Ukraine. To get you in the mood for the greatest tournament on earth, we have compiled all of the highlights from England’s qualification campaign – including all ten matches, home and away. View England’s road to the World Cup and let us know your favourite match in the comments below!

England’s road to the World Cup 2010:

Andorra (a) Saturday, September 6 2008 (0-2)

Croatia (a) Wednesday, September 10 2008 (1-4)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7kvDm5kKiw

Kazakhstan (h) Saturday, October 11 2008 (5-1)

Belarus (a) Wednesday, October 15 2008 (1-3)

Ukraine (h) Wednesday, April 1 2009 (2-1)

Kazakhstan (a) Saturday, June 6 2009 (0-4)

Andorra (h) Wednesday, June 10 2009 (6-0)

Croatia (h) Wednesday, September 9 2009 (5-1)

Ukraine (a) Saturday, October 10 2009 (1-0)

Belarus (h) Wednesday, October 14 2009 (3-0)

Embedding disabled, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LDfPEi8r7A

Playing for the national team is seen as one of the greatest achievements for a footballer, as it confirms their status as one the countries’ elite. Players are always very honoured when called up for the first time – but the excitement can often be short-lived. Through injury or just plain frustration, some of England’s greatest players have retired from international football somewhat prematurely – and here are four of them.

1. Paul Scholes

The Manchester United midfielder who is well known for his effective passing and controlled manner, Scholes has amassed 66 caps for England, scoring 14 times. Although he was once an ever-present at the heart of the Three Lions’ midfield, he found his opportunities limited under Sven-Goran Eriksson and retired aged 29 citing his family and club as being more important.

2. Alan Shearer

One of the Premier League and England’s most prolific goal scorers, Alan Shearer was a striker that always knew how to find the back of the net. Shearer played a total of 63 times for the England national team, racking up 30 goals in the process. He retired following Euro 2000 aged just 29 – citing his club football as being more important, just as Scholes did.

3. Jamie Carragher

Although he grew up as an Evertonian as a kid, Carragher has become one of the all-time great defenders of Liverpool FC. During his international career, Carragher made a total of 34 appearances, but was often played out of his preferred centre-back position. In 2007 he decided to retire from the international scene as he had grown frustrated with a lack of appearances under McClaren, with lesser-known defenders often being played ahead of him despite his impressive club form.

4. Andy Cole

Andy Cole is most widely known for his glittering career at Manchester United, totalling 93 goals in 195 appearances as a striker. Despite his form at club level, Cole was never consistently played in the England team, and only managed 15 appearances during 7 years. After failing to be selected for the 2002 World Cup squad, Cole announced his retirement from international football.

Too Young, Too Soon

Each of the four players listed above arguably retired from international football at the peak of their careers. Shearer and Cole have since retired completely from football, but Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher continue to excel at club level – playing week-in, week-out.

Would the current England benefit squad benefit from the inclusion of these two veterans heading into the World Cup this year? Well who knows, but each player has continuingly been asked to reconsider their decision by England managers over the past few years, but have both declined.

To support the England national team in the 2006 World Cup, Mars changed the name of Mars bars to ‘Believe’ – which understandably didn’t go down too well in the rest of the UK. Today, The Daily Record is reporting that Mars are to support England again, with a World Cup chocolate bar for the second successive tournament.

The new packaging for the famous chocolate bar will include the Three Lions crest in support of England. Accompanying the change in wrapper will be a new TV advert which today launches, featuring some England legends from down the years and is titled “Proud to wear the badge”.

According to the Daily Football Blog, Oldham are offering the opportunity for fans to recoup their money if they purchase a season ticket for next season. If you buy your season ticket before the 29th May and England go on to win the World Cup in South Africa this summer, then the club will fully refund the money you spent.

An Oldham season ticket costs around £328 according to their latest price list, so there is even more incentive to buy now with the prospect of getting your money back.

England are 11/2 to win the 2010 World Cup (3rd favourites).

Aside from the current off-the-field issues with the England defense, there are also some worrying signs that there won’t be a full strength team available for the World Cup this year. Glen Johnson at right-back has had a season disrupted by injury at Liverpool, and Ashley Cole is now out until May after damaging his ankle recently.  Along with the full-backs, Rio Ferdinand has only just recovered from his injury, and if the AC Milan vs Manchester United game is anything to go by, he isn’t back to his best just yet.

So what is the England team left with heading to the World Cup? The chances are all players could recover in time for the tournament, but if not, Capello will have to explore some alternatives. Here are a few potential players to choose from:

Right-Back

Assuming Glen Johnson can regain his match fitness before June, then there is no doubt he will be the first name on the team sheet at right-back. If he doesn’t recover in time, then there aren’t many decent English alternatives to chose from.

Gary Neville – Well, he’s played a few club games this season, but at 34 he’s not a great option.

Wes Brown – Again, he’s only played a handful of games for United this season and never really took the International stage (or club for that matter) by storm.

Micah Richards – He was tipped for great heights after initially impressing for England, but has since drifted off a bit. At only 21 though he is definitely a prospect – but could it be too soon for him?

Conclusion: 1^st choice = Glen Johnson, 2^nd choice = Micah Richards

Left-Back

Left-back is fortunately a position that England has a lot of cover in, so if Ashley Cole is unfit, there are a whole host of players waiting to jump in line.

Wayne Bridge – Initially seemed like the logical alternative to Cole, but now he may not want to play alongside Terry after the recent reported trouble between the two.

Stephen Warnock – Warnock has really impressed since joining Aston Villa, although he has had some recent injury trouble of his own.

Leighton Baines – In the Guardian’s recent poll Baines was voted as favourite to play left-back at the World Cup. He is yet to make his full England debut, but has impressed so far this season.

Of course there are a few other alternatives, such as Lescott, Barry and Milner, but with the amount of left-sided talent available to Capello, he is likely to choose a natural left-back.

Conclusion: 1^st choice = Stephen Warnock, 2^nd choice = Leighton Baines

Centre-Backs

The back pairing for England has picked itself in recent years, with Terry and Ferdinand holding the line brilliantly, but the tide may have just turned. Although Rio has recently taken the captaincy from John Terry, he is still very injury prone and may not make it to the tournament.

Ledley King – King is a brilliant player on his day, but is also unfortunately the most injury-prone defender in the country.

Phil Jagielka – Has only played 3 England games but is solid at club level and a genuine contender for centre defense.

Matthew Upson – Capello appears to quite like Upson, and he has featured a few times since the Italian took charge. One thing which may let him down is West Ham’s form and habit of conceding goals this season.

Joleon Lescott – Moved to Manchester City in a high-profile transfer in the summer of 2009, and has been consistently impressive for his new club. A tall and powerful defender; he could be just the ticket for England in South Africa.

There are a couple of other players who have been on the brink of breaking through to the England team under Capello, including Gary Cahill, but none of whom have done enough to warrant the position than those listed above.

Conclusion: 1^st choice = Rio Ferdinand & John Terry, 2^nd choice = Joleon Lescott & John Terry

So there you have it, a brief rundown of the defensive options available to Capello for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  Which defenders would you chose in your team?

YouTube is great isn’t it? Not only can you search for informative and helpful tips or tutorials, but you can also delve into the strange (and funny) videos uploaded by people at home. Although there is to be no ‘official’ song for England this year, that hasn’t stopped everybody giving it a go… albeit badly.

There have been some classics down the years, such as World in Motion (John Barnes rapping – what more do you need), but the build up to the 2010 World Cup hasn’t yielded any good songs at all. Here are 5 of the worst World Cup songs that have been unofficially made for England this year. In no particular order…

1) England World Cup Song. By Geoff Hills

2) ALL THE WAY

3) Come On Sing For England

4) England’s Glory England World cup song 2010

5) England 2010 World Cup Anthem

Shocking.

If you are interested to hear the official song for World Cup 2010 – see below.

Waving Flag – K’naan

The clock is officially ticking down for the biggest footballing tournament in the world. With only 118 days to go before the opening ceremony and matches, World Cup fever is spreading like wildfire across each of the competing nations as it promises to be a World Cup to remember.

The opening match of the 2006 World Cup started with a bang, as Philipp Lahm scored a scorcher for Germany after only 5 minutes against Costa Rica. This year’s opening match may not be as spectacular, but the World Cup is always very anticipated so both teams will be going all out to get a win.

Here are the 2010 World Cup dates throughout each stage of the competition.

Key World Cup Dates – Group Stages:

11/06/2010 to 25/06/2010 – Group Matches

Here are some key group matches:

11/06/2010 – South Africa vs Mexico
12/06/2010 – England vs USA
14/06/2010 – Holland vs Denmark
16/06/2010 – Spain vs Switzerland
25/06/2010 – Portugal vs Brazil

Key World Cup Dates – Knockout Stages:

26/06/2010 to 29/06/2010 – Knockout Matches

02/07/2010 to 03/07/2010 – Quarter Finals

06/07/2010 – Semi Final 1
07/07/2010 – Semi Final 2

10/07/2010 – Third Place Playoff

11/07/2010 – 2010 Fifa World Cup Final