体坛英语新闻：England aims high at World Cup

LONDON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Fabio Capello, Wayne Rooney, the team's dominance in the European qualification and a comparatively easier group give England great confidence to come to South Africa as one of the favorites at the upcoming World Cup.

Capello, 63, is exactly the savior of the "Three Lions". The reputable Italian manager took over England in December 2007 after the team suffered a heavy blow for not qualifying for the 2008 European Championships.

He wasted little time in building a formidable formation for England, instilling the distinguished defense philosophy of Italian soccer to the team.

Under the helm of Capello, who once led AC Milan, Rome, Juventus and Real Madrid to domestic league titles, England came through the World Cup qualifying campaign with flying colors.

They stormed to win nine out of 10 matches in Group 6, only knocked down by Ukraine after they have secured the berth in the finals with a winning streak of eight.

Capello believes that England is one of the best in the world and his trump card is the Man United star Rooney.

The former Everton trainee burst onto the Old Trafford stage in September 2004, netting a hat-trick on his debut.