Spector of defeat looms for England, says the very average US full-back from West Ham

JONATHAN SPECTOR, a little-known American who carves out a living as a journeyman full back with London Premier League club West Ham, insists the opening match against England in Phokeng tomorrow will be the USA’s “easiest match” in Group C.

With Slovenia and Algeria to come, Spector – sent out on loan to Charlton after three games for Manchester United before his move to the Hammers in 2005 - said: “It's our easiest game. There will be some great bragging rights in England next season if we manage to win."

"There is a quiet confidence in the US team," Spector, 24 with 25 caps, told the BBC World Service's Sportsworld programme. "There are no expectations in the US so the only pressure comes from ourselves. We are not expected to get anything from it where as the other two games there will be pressure.

"We have captured the attention of the general public in the United States and we would like to keep their attention by doing well at the World Cup."

England may be a little wound up by Spector’s assessment before the eagerly awaited clash at the Bafokeng Palace Stadium, where the surface is like a billiard table and the 8.30pm (7.30pm) kick off will take place after sunset with cold conditions arguably favouring Fabio Capello’s men despite the altitude.

The US, based a mile from my base at the Irene Lodge in Centurion, go on to play dark horses Slovenia in Johannesburg on 18 July before their final group game against Algeria – who put out African champions Egypt - in Pretoria five days later.

Drawing on their impressive form when they reached the Confederations Cup final in South Africa last year (and beat Euro champions Spain), confidence is extraordinarily high in a nation famous for shocking England at the Brazilian World Cup in 1950.

Defender Oguchi Onyewu got in on the Spector act, ignoring England’s world ranking of eight, six ahead of the US in 14. After impressive friendly wins over Turkey in Philadelphia and Australia at the Ruimsig Stadium near Johannesburg, he said: “With our performances and results last summer, we gained a little bit more respect in the world. It gives you a confidence and the realisation we are playing at the highest level and can compete with the best teams in the world.

"The Confederations Cup was last year. This Saturday is the World Cup and it is a completely different monster.

"It is a different entity. But the experience we picked up can only help us going into this tournament.

"England are a very good team with very good players but it is about how those players play together and that is going to be the important deciding factor. Our expectations are to get a win."

Follow me on Twitter: nealcol

South Africa 1 Denmark 0: 12 games unbeaten and the hosts are ready for a World Cup sensation

SOUTH AFRICA’S extraordinary 1-0 pre-World Cup triumph over Denmark, ranked nearly 50 places above them in the latest FIFA rankings, has got the football-speaking world buzzing.

Katlego Mphela’s solitary goal in the 75^th minute didn’t really do his side justice. The South Africans, ranked a hopeless 83^rd, were growing stronger and stronger as the 40,000 yellow-clad fans were eased gently towards gleeful hysteria.

It wasn’t Everton’s player of the year Steven Pienaar who spurred the nation to yet another pre-World Cup triumph, nor should we focus too heavily on the other Premier League stars, Kagiso Dikgacoi of Fulham and Portsmouth’s Aaron Mokoena. It was the bit part players. The ones we English hacks have never heard of.

In goal, Itumeleng Khune was faultless apart from a single cross. His late save denied the Danes an undeserved leveller and his distribution is both fast and innovative. At centre-back, Bongani Khumalo continues to impress next to Mokoena, winning his 101^st cap, and out wide , Teko Modise deserves to be made a post-World Cup millionaire by the Premier League scouts.

In midfield, man of the match Reneilwe Letsholonyane and his Kaizer Chiefs team-mate Siphiwe Tshabalala were monumental. From the first minute to the last, the dreadlocked midfielders were prompting, passing, perspiring in the Highveld winter sun. And the great Danes, ranked 36 in the world, simply couldn’t cope. And among their number were Liverpool’s Daniel Agger, Christian Poulsen of Juventus and veteran Feyenoord front-man Jon Dahl Tomasson

Sure, they’ll have Nicklas Bendtner fit to play in their opening Group E clash against Holland Soccer City on June 14.

But even the towering 6ft 4in Arsenal striker would have struggled for a glimpse of goal on the day South Africa came of age on the international stage – at just the right time, given their tough Group A opening game against Mexico on June 11.

The key is not difficult to discern. Here it is, remember it well. Back in 2002, Dutch genius Guus Hiddink decided his South Korean side, mostly locally based, could only thrive if they were supremely fit. A bunch of journeymen who can run forever will punch way above their weight. Hiddink was so nearly proven right. The Taeguk Warriors reached the semi-finals on home soil and the nation rejoiced at their unexpected success.

For Hiddink, read Bafana Bafana’s Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Since he returned to the hottest seat in football last November, South Africa have gone 12 matches unbeaten, leaving teams like Bulgaria and Colombia in their growing wake.

Three months ago, Parreira embarked on a camp to Brazil, promising to up the fitness levels. Unbeaten in their coach’s back yard, the uncelebrated members of the South Africa squad went off to Germany for further preparation. And then they returned to be joined by the stars who earn their keep overseas.

Some of the locally-based players have lost 2st in the process. They are, to coin a British phrase, “as fit as a robber’s dog”, capable of running forever, at altitude. It’s no wonder there was no room in the final 23 for West Ham’s less-than-svelte Benni McCarthy.

Perhaps Parreira should consider an Olympic role next. These guys look capable of serious middle-distance mayhem, Fulham’s Dikgacoi looked like a lumbering heavyweight by comparison.

When Mphela, latching on to a through ball from the eagle-eyed Letsholonyane, slipped his Danish defender to fire into the far corner with a quarter of an hour to play, it was a victory for blood, sweat and tears, not to mention a growing confidence, an ability to keep possession and an increasingly deft touch on the ball from players who ply their trade in a very average South African Premier League.

Parreira won the little golden trophy which means so much in 1994, surely he can’t do it again? He grins: “I am very proud. We want to keep making South Africa proud of us. I am not saying Bafana are going to win the World Cup but we need to get as far as possible. Once we get to the second round when it becomes a knockout tournament, anything can happen and I am happy to take my chances then.

“The players have shown fantastic commitment by buying into playing the ball on the ground, keeping possession and most of all getting 100% match fit. We are fighting fit and that has been the difference. Fitness played a key role in the training camps and we are getting the benefit of that. We are much more organised now.”

A seriously pleased Parreira, who has worked his men for up to six hours a day over the last three months, added: “We are now ready for the World Cup. It is not going to be an easy tournament for us because we are in a very tough Group A with Mexico, Uruguay and France.

“But this win and the way the players have played in all the recent warm-up matches has shown the world we can look forward with confidence to playing Mexico.”

Amid a chaotic press conference next to the perfect Atteridgeville pitch, Parreira told us in several different languages: “This was a tough, tough game for us. We played against a highly experienced and professional team. Make no mistake the Danes were good but we were a little better on the day and this rounds off my World Cup preparation beautifully.”

Captain Mokoena said: “Denmark are credible opposition. It was a brilliant win for us, they fought for every inch. The fact we have now gone 12 games unbeaten under this coach has give us massive motivation for the opening World Cup game against Mexico. We are good to go.”

They sure are. The World Cup hosts nearly doubled their lead in the 90^th minute, but Surprise Moriri's shot was deflected for a corner. A second goal would have been about right after a dominant display for short-passing possession football. And most spectacular of all, the way the South Africans tracked back when they lost possession.

Elsewhere, on the day Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel was ruled out of the World Cup, Holland’s Aarjen Robben suffered a suspected hamstring strain in the 6-1 win over Hungary while Australia were humbled 3-1 by the USA at Ruimsig near Johannesburg.

But forget all that. Look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAZhxAVIwLU and see what kind of day I had. Just being there was a joy. From the smiling policemen before the match to the welcome at the local shebeen afterwards, you could not ask for a better atmosphere.

As I said to the British audience on talkSPORT radio afterwards, if you weren’t planning to come out, reconsider. I got my wife a flight two days ago, for £800 on South African Airways. The hotels still have rooms. There are still tickets and if you miss out on those, free fanzones in every city. This will be a fascinating, unpredictable World Cup, colourful and passionate. Don’t miss it. Please don’t let it pass you by.

Neal Collins is in South Africa promoting his first novel, A GAME APART, which is currently the 25^th best-selling African book on Amazon. For more details, see www.nealcollins.co.uk

USA 2, Turkey 1: Blimey, hold on a bit, these Yanks can play!

You can just see it happening in lounges across England. Those lucky enough to get ESPN's satellite coverage of Saturday's pre-World Cup friendly between Turkey and the United States in Philadelphia were suddenly sitting up in their sofas, with beers and crisps flying everywhere.

"Cor blimey, luv a duck, these bleedin' Yanks can play!" they'll have yelped as Fulham's Clint Dempsey was hitting the back of the net to put his side, England's opening Group C rivals on June 12, 2-1 up against a very useful Turkish outfit.

And there we were thinking baseball, the NFL, ice hockey and basketball (oh, and track and field) are what they're really good at. It may be some game. Especially when England were put through such a struggle by Japan yesterday, before running out 2-1 winners in their deeply unimpressive friendly in Graz, Austria.

Certainly the Americans made me sit up in Centurion, my World Cup base, on Saturday night. Today this American side—prepared pretty thoroughly by the experienced Bob Bradley, who has been in charge for 60 games—fly in to South Africa. By tonight Landon Donovan—who made Bradley's goal last night with some aplomb—will be sleeping about a mile from where I am, in the lakeside luxury of the Irene Country Lodge.

I've just been there for lunch, with former South African goalkeeper Deshi Bhaktawer along with the owner of the lodge and most of Irene, Adrian van der Bijl and their families. What a place. A British village in the middle of Gauteng. Today, for about £5, we had "the same lunch the Americans will be eating". The talk was all of football and who'll win the World Cup.

And you can't rule this hard-running US side out. Not when they're based in such a delightful spot. For a sneak preview of where they are, see my video athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OtSyTVjDOc .

It was a pig farm when I was a kid. Now it's blooming lovely, and the staff are great... and they speak American (unlike the German base at the exclusive Velmore Estate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwmti01pfUs ) or the Greek hotel at the Beverly Hills (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px-ROLawUnU ))!

Mind you, nobody's quite got what England have at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex though (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAousno69r ).

It took the Americans a while to start playing last night. Ranked 14th in the world, they so nearly made a mess of the last game in their "send off series" tour. Everton's Tim Howard was called into action plenty in the opening 15 minutes and eventually conceded the first goal—from Arda Turan in the 27th minute—amongst howls of disbelief from a bumper 55,407 crowd in Philly.

But yes, these Turks were trying to impress their new boss Guus Hiddink. He will take over when his contract to manage Russia finally runs out in the autumn.

For a long time it looked like Michael Bradley, now with Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany, was getting overrun in the midfield, despite his massive engine. Any thoughts I may have had about nepotism (he's boss Bob's son) were soon dispelled though as he sweated blood to keep his side in the game.

And then who pops up with the best run of the first half? Jozy Altidore, the Hull City striker who managed just one goal—against Manchester City—in the Premier League last season.

And the man whose greatest claim to fame was giving Sunderland's Scottish fullback Alan Hutton a good old head butt towards the end of the season, then produced the 58th-minute equaliser...in his first match since that red card on April 24.

That left Dempsey to send the huge crowd home happy with a well-taken 75th-minute winner as the US dominated the closing exchanges.

The 27-year-old from Texas, showing off his wonderful set of tattoos, said of his 18th goal in 61 appearances afterwards, "It was great, I just stuck it away. We were so much better in the second half."

The US play Australia in a friendly in South Africa next week (June 5). And then, with the very public backing of their President this week ("We are proud of our team, I will have a man in the Oval Office keeping an eye on their fortunes"), it's England, ranked 8th in the world.

Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Palace is the place to be on June 12...if you can get a ticket, as the World Cup's two best-supported visiting teams go toe-to-toe.

Still, with Algeria (ranked 30th) stuffed 3-0 by Ireland last week — the Irish should be here but Thierry Henry's hand denied them the chance in Paris last year—and Slovenia (25) lucky to get past Russia in the playoffs, the US and England should get through from Group C whatever the result.

Just as well really. Because blimey, these Yanks can play! Given that England needed two highly-flukey own-goals to see off Japan, this World Cup is anyone's.

Did anyone notice New Zealand, ranked 78th in the world, beat Serbia (15th) 1-0 tonight? Those Kiwis can play a bit too. Italy be warned! But what about favourites Spain—3-2 last-minute winners over Saudi Arabia?!

Germany cruised past Hungary 3-0, Slovakia drew 1-1 with Cameroon in other friendlies while earlier today, troubled South Korea fell 1-0.

I'm off to South Africa v Guatemala is Polokwane with Desh and the SABC lads tomorrow. It's just around the corner, this World Cup. Can you feel it?

Who the hell is Neal Collins (nealcol on twitter)? See www.nealcollins.co.uk .

Sangoma? It doesn't matter which doctor you choose, they can do the trick

THERE'S a sangoma on the front page of the Johannesburg Star today, leaping in the air outside Soccer City, venue for the World Cup final on July 11.

All twirly bits, loin cloth and head band, this is the kind of guy Europeans and Americans take one look at... and run the other way.

Especially when they discover he has just slaughtered a cow to bless the 94,600-capacity stadium and performed the uKuphahla ceremony to please the spirits of his ancestors before the big kick-off when South Africa take on Mexico here on June 11.

According to the Star, tribal chiefs and traditional medicine men - some still call sangomas witch doctors - came from all over the region to make the vast "kalabash" or cauldron-shaped stadium ready for their side to triumph.

Given they are the fastest rising team in today's FIFA rankings - Bafana Bafana rose from 90 to 83 - they may be having an effect already, though their Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira may want to share the credit.

Black magic? Voodoo? Hey, it could be worse. How about this for a frightening incentive? Diego Maradona has promised today he will run naked through the streets of Buenos Aires if Argentina win the World Cup.

And that's the point. These guys aren't just about superstition and spells, they're about confidence boosting, aiding belief systems, in a more natural way that our sports psychologists or Rudy Geller could ever manage.

I have a unique insight into this. Apart from the passages in my novel A GAME APART (in case you hadn't heard, it's the book you must read before the World Cup, see www.nealcollins.co.uk) where I describe scenes I have witnessed inside African dressing rooms, we have a gardener at the old family home in Centurion.

He is the same age as my father, born in 1933. He's lived in a little room out the back since 1975. For years, dad called him "Smart the garden boy". Until I got back from university, my eyes opened, and got chatting to a man also known as "The Reverend James Sibanda".

He hails from Malawi. He is both a local priest and a doctor. A traditional healer. He drives a Mercedes. Dad drives a beat-up Toyota. Every 45 minutes, on a good day, a new patient arrives to have the bones thrown, the ailments healed, the nerves unfrazzled in an ever-changing Rainbow Nation. Smart still mows the lawn between appointments. What a bloke. I was out talking to him and his son Nicholas before I wrote this piece.

I've seen him at work. Throwing the bones from a little velvet bag, giving herbal remedies, offering wise counsel. Just as I've seen the sangoma hunched over his bubbling kalabash before a major game. And felt the beneficial affect. Honestly. It works.

Mandla Qeleqele, a member of the Traditonal Healers Organisation here, said of today's "cleansing" ceremony at Soccer City: "The purpose is to say to the ancestors that the world is coming to South Africa. So that everything happens in harmony."

I hope it went well. I hope the highly-educated fans from the developed nations don't just snigger at such Africanisms.

Maybe, just maybe, there's something in it. When I tied a ribbon soaked in "muti" or magic around my waist as a young footballer around these parts, I certainly felt it. A honing of the instincts, a settling of the nerves.

Beware Soccer City on June 11 you Mexicans. There's magic afoot. And 90,000 blaring Vuvuzelas!

Soon England will find out how difficult it is to host a World Cup. It's a long time since 1966

You come all the way to sunny Durban to see the odd strike hit the net. Not a strike from Transnet. And suddenly you find yourself worrying about container ships instead of containing midfielders.

I can see 31 frustrated boats waiting for the strike by the dock workers to end from my window overlooking the Indian Ocean at the Umhlanga Sands hotel. One for each visiting World Cup nation.

Apparently the emergency generators demanded by FIFA for every ground are out there somewhere, rusting gently. And the imported fruits are getting over-ripe in the hold. Always thought that was a Cape Town thing, judging from my visit there with the England cricket team in January. Very fruity, the new Capetonians.

But I digress. The Transnet strike is just the latest World Cup scare story to hit the media. In the wee hours of Friday morning, I was on BBC Radio 5 in my hotel room being assailed with the normal pre-tournament questions. “Is the crime bad over there?” asked presenter Tony Livesey. No, I said, it’s largely paranoia. Just stick to the safe streets like you would in any city. I’ve walked around Johannesburg in a suit, and hardly been mugged at all (cue hysterical laughter). Then his studio guest, a lady called Jane, came up with another brilliant World Cup query: “How bad is the crime out there?” she asked, worried about her stay in Cape Town next month.

So I told her too. How my wife and I had walked, with a group of Barmy Army cricket fans, down Long Street in Cape Town on New Year’s night. Intimidating for Englishmen reared on lurid tales of darkest Africa, but the worst thing we had thrown at us were shouts of “Happy New Year!”

“Oh,” said Jane, “I’m staying in Long Street for the World Cup. That’s a relief.” Another happy customer.

And so it goes on. I spend so much time on nationally available Sky News, on Britain’s commercial sports station talkSPORT, in South Africa on 702, Cape Talk, KFM and Highveld, not to mention SABC Radio 2000, and in the newspapers in both countries (I've got a whole page in the Saturday Independent here today). And on the global Internet. Just Google me. My life is spent knocking down the ridiculous tales of World Cup woe, persuading Americans, Germans, Argentinians, and Slovenians to come and see for themselves.

Thousands of British fans have been over here for cricket and rugby tours, all satisfied customers. But somehow our football supporters—not the gentlest of folk—are heading for real trouble.

If you believed the red tops in England, you’d never leave your front room. “Bloodbath awaits football fans,” “Panga massacre threat to England supporters,” “Terrorist threat over England game,” “Wags warned to stay at home,” and the more imaginative “Earthquake threat to Rustenburg puts England on red alert.”

What they tend to forget of course is that London hosts an Olympics in 2012 in the notorious East End, where muggings and gang warfare are rife, and knife crime is up 42 percent. Every time a murder takes place there, I’m tempted to phone one of my South African sports editor pals and suggest a headline along the lines of: “London faces Olympic bloodbath” or “See London and die in 2012.”

And of course, on Friday, England’s 2018 World Cup bid slammed in to top gear with David Beckham, limping slightly, at the forefront. Do they know what they’re in for?

That ultra-smooth FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke will become a near-resident with his vast whispering entourage. And FIFA will take over large swathes of Britain. Innocent businessmen who work close to football stadia selling shirts and scarves will find themselves having to pay £2,500 to cash-rich FIFA to keep their stalls near the stadia—just as they have in South Africa—local mayors will have to sign over control of their cities—just as they have in South Africa—and every hotel, every ground, every transport system will have to meet FIFA’s specifications—just as they have in South Africa.

Then the English will have to face the prospect of being turned into FIFAland for months on end. Told what to do by autocratic football politicians who say they love the beautiful game, but appear to be more interested in profit.

It’s not easy. All they need is to find the head of Britain’s right wing supremacists, say Queen Elizabeth II’s hubby Phil, beaten to death with his trousers down. But I guess they’d just blame Julius Malema.

Poor bloke. All he does is shout his mouth off and everyone thinks he’s going to bring the nation to its knees. I can’t help feeling sorry for the guy. He’s head of the ANC Youth Brigade and he looks like that? No wonder he always seems so deeply disgusted with life.

All in all though, my latest trip to South Africa has been highly encouraging. Search YouTube for my footage from the Italian training camp at Leriba Lodge and the USA base at Irene, both in Centurion. I also got the camera out on my arrival at the spanking new King Shaka international airport.

Read http://www.nealcollins.co.uk for an assessment of the World Cup bases and my visits to the Soccer City, Loftus Versveld, Bafokeng Sports Palace, Green Point, and the magnificent Moses Mabhida Stadium. It’s all there, South Africa is ready. If I’ve said that once, I’ve said it a thousand times, though they’re still working on the final details along Durban’s Marine Parade, now quaintly renamed O Tambo Drive.

And with less than a month to go before the big kick-off on June 11, global opinion is starting to turn. South Africa really is going to host the continent’s first World Cup. What was it that former England legend John Barnes told me a few weeks ago? “South Africa is like the nation of my birth, Jamaica. A beautiful country with a bad reputation. They say in Jamaica you’ll get murdered and everyone’s on drugs. It’s just not right. I believe South Africa will host the most colourful, passionate World Cup ever seen.”

Thanks to “Digger” Barnes and your own great footballing diplomats like Lucas Radebe, Bob Skinstad, and Aaron Mokoena, the tide is turning. South Africa 2010 is ready to rumble rather than grumble. Late bookings are flooding in, according to the people I spoke to at the vast Indaba 2010 tourism conference in Durban this week.

Now all you have to do is find a cork for those bloody Vuvuzelas!

Bayern Munich 2 Manchester United 1, but limping Rooney is what matters

THE worst possible scenario. Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney has suffered a World Cup threatening injury. No, not a metatarsal. It looks like his right ankle.

He went over on it after an innocuous episode right at the end of the Premier League’s champions embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich tonight. Innocuous? Bayern were actually scoring the winner went he went off in agony.

Ironic really. Sir Alex Ferguson pulled him out of Sunday’s 4-0 win at Bolton Wanderers over a “bruised foot”. That came after an “inflamed knee tendon” kept him out of the starting line-up for the Carling Cup final.

Jamie Redknapp, analysing for Sky Sports, made the point: “It’s been a nightmare for Manchester United”. I’m not sure that’s true. Sure, they were outplayed. But Rooney scored after 70 seconds, crashing home his 34^th goal of the season.

But after that, Bayern dominated. Franck Ribery took England candidate Gary Neville, 35, apart down the right of United’s creaking system.

They levelled, then went ahead as the second half looked increasingly Germanic. Sir Alex Ferguson said: “We kept giving the ball away to be honest. We caused our own defeat to be honest.

“That was our downfall. The last goal? How can you describe it?

“Wayne Rooney? I’m not sure. He’s being treated at the moment. We’ll see what happens.

“At Old Trafford it will be a different game obviously. We won’t be giving the ball away like we did tonight. We’ve got the away goal, that will matter.”

In case you're interested, the first-ever all-French Champions League quarter-final between Lyon and Bordeaux ended 3-1. Next to Rooney's as-yet-unconfirmed injury, who gives a damn?

Beckham must go... and so say all of us

THE football-speaking world will forever remember March 15 as Becksout Day. And this morning, the Achilles tendon expert Dr Sakari Orava, explains from the now-famous Mehilainen clinic in the Finnish town of Turku: "David Beckham will be able to walk with the help of crutches this afternoon. The operation was done, it went well but it will take many months for him to recover."

According to the counter on FIFA.com, the World Cup is now 86 days and a few hours away. Just not enough time for Becks, who has walked on water occasionally over the last 25 years, to recover in time for that record-breaking fourth World Cup tournament.

Instead, he must languish on three with the great Peter Shilton and the late Bobby Moore. And, barring miracles, he will also remain stuck on 115 England caps, ten short of Shilts.

Ironic that a Finnish bloke should announce Beckham's career is finished. There were screaming fans and paparazzi to go with the pre-op preparations in Helsinki yesterday, but then everything Beckham has done is accompanied by such scenes.

By now we've all seen the last on-field scenes from the San Siro on Sunday night. Milan are 1-0 up against Chieva, Becks goes to kick the ball, his left leg won't move. He hesitates, looking confused. Then tries again. Collapses. Shouts: "It's broken, it's broken."

Awful moments. But, and this is my point, far better it should end like that, four days after a standing ovation at Old Trafford, than he should struggle on at 34 trying to impress England boss Fabio Capello.

The Generalissimo is not a sentimental chap. He would have been hard-pressed to include Beckham in his 30-man squad on May 11. And with Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips, James Milner, Aaron Lennon and Joe Cole all clamouring for the wide-right berth, it would have been impossible to keep him in when the squad is reduced to 23 on June 1.

Everyone knew that after the friendly against Egypt a fortnight ago. Walcott went off for SWP and the game turned around while Becks sat gloomily on the bench. International career over. The very best he could have expected from his record-breaking fourth World Cup would have been the occasional shot of him sitting on the bench in that huge Kalabash of a stadium at Soccer City on July 11 while his young team-mates celebrate ending 44 years of stiff-upper lipped hurt.

But everyone was in denial yesterday, ignoring the evidence of the 3-1 friendly win over African champions Egypt. Sky News, Sky Sports News, the newspapers... even Adrian and Darren Gough at talkSPORT when I spoke to them. All insisted Becks would have been a glorious impact sub for England. An impact sub? At 34? Beckham doesn’t waltz past players like SWP. He doesn’t have the raw pace of Walcott, the engine of Milner. He’s a crosser, a deadball expert, a leader, a talisman.

For Beckham, it was always a starting place or not at all. And, secretly, Capello must be breathing a sigh of relief that he won’t have to make that awful decision on May 11 or June 1. Had he dropped Becks, the world would have savaged the Italian for his heartless axe.

Now we can remember Becks for what he was. The boy who scored from the halfway line against Wimbledon in 1996, who became a man in the aftermath of the red card against Argentina in 1998, who joined Real Madrid and helped them to the title in 2004, who led a new American revolution with LA Galaxy and faded from the scene with dignity on loan at Milan.

Today a “source close to the family” tells The Sun: “This is probably the lowest point he has ever encountered in his professional career. Words cannot express how devastated David is.

"Mentally this is disastrous. He thinks he's being punished for something he must have done wrong in life, which of course is ridiculous."

As wife Victoria turns up to comfort her man, the source adds: “David has been crying and is in deep shock.

"Football is his life and he feels like it has been unfairly taken away from him. He's just so low.”

Yes, he must be low. But in time he will realise fate has dealt him a hand which he can cope with, even thrive on. And as I said to the Sky News crew here at home in Chalfont St Giles on Sunday night, the perfect conclusion is this: Capello invites Beckham to join the squad on June 1. To add his expertise, his statesmanship to the mix.

I received twitters and Facebook messages from all over the world yesterday saying: “Beckham must be at the World Cup.” In South Africa, I told 702 radio listeners: “Don’t worry, David Beckham will be there. He will still be our figurehead.”

No, he won’t be there as a player, but he should go as football’s celebrity talisman. It would ease the pressure on Capello and the players, particularly Wayne Rooney, our spearhead.

On the field, Beckham’s departure was sadly inevitable. Off the field, he can remain a vital ingredient.

And we haven’t even talked about the 2018 World Cup yet, when he will be Capello’s right hand man as they attempted to make it a global hat-trick. We can dream, can’t we?

Now let’s move on. Jose Mourinho and InterMilan are at Chelsea tonight in the Champions League. Should be a special occasion.

Have a look at this, latest edition of Soccer Week magazine in South Africa...

magazine.pdf

With Pienaar and the vuvuzelas on their side, perhaps South Africa have a chance

AT last Steven Pienaar is offering a glimmer of on-field optimism for Bafana Bafana. Yes, South Africa may be gearing up nicely for the World Cup in June – I’ve been to the Moses Mabhida in Durban, Green Point in Cape Town, Soccer City in Soweto –off the field, great job.

But it’s on the field where pessimism strikes at the heart among the Rainbow Nation’s population, whether they follow local football or not. Invariably not.

But my question for those doubters is this: “How can any side fail to compete at the top level with Steven Pienaar at the heart of things?”

The bloke is a revelation. Anybody who watched Everton’s emphatic 2-0 win over Manchester City’s millionaires will understand the point.

Sure Pienaar scored his third goal in three games – a neat near-post free-kick nearly as good as his exquisite finish in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal last week – but goals aren’t the only currency for the former Ajax Amsteram midfielder.

He is one of those rare midfielders who can perform the “Makalele” role – defensive, along the lines of Alex Song at Arsenal or Michael Essien at Chelsea. He is also adept at the creative passing and quick break element – think Stevie Gerrard at Liverpool, though not lately. And of course, he has the engine of a Frank Lampard, able to run all day and work in both penalty areas, almost simultaneously.

Yet here sit South Africa. Failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations and at No86 in the fickle FIFA tables, the lowest ranked side ever to host a World Cup

It can’t be right. Given you’ve got only 31 nations visiting here in June, there’s a good chance you’ll finish better than 86^th, especially if Pienaar is given free reign in your midfield. Arguably, with the captain’s armband on. He’s 27, he played in Cape Town, Amsterdam, Dortmund and Liverpool, he has the experience.

Remember, Benni McCarthy and Aaron Makoena have also been scoring Premier League goals in recent weeks.

But it worries me when, this week, I hear Bafana coach Carlos Parreira saying he’ll build his team around a core of South African-based players.

Before this epic cricket series between South Africa and England started I got around to a few grounds and saw, amongst others, your champions Supersports United beat lowly Jomo Cosmos 3-0 at a nearly-empty Loftus Versfeld.

And let’s be frank, Stevie Pienaar would have made a huge difference in a game like that. The idea that Parreira may build his side around players not playing in the European leagues is deeply flawed, though understandable.

He’s taken 29 players down to Durban (why not at high altitude? All the big World Cup teams will be preparing at altitude given the World Cup final will be played at 5,000 feet).for friendlies against Swaziland on Saturday in Chatsworth and Zimbabwe at the superb Moses Mabhida stadium next Wednesday.

I know he’s unhappy about Elrio van Heerden not getting much action for Blackburn – he’s now in Turkey with Sivasspor and trying to regain full fitness.

And you can sympathise with Parreira when he says: “I don’t think David Moyes will allow Pienaar to join us before the World Cup because he has become a vital player for them. We will have to wait until late in May for him and Mokoena at Portsmouth.”

He’s right, but that doesn’t mean the side shouldn’t be built around Pienaar variously described as “superb”, “a revelation” and “unstoppable” by the British papers this morning.

Let’s take the view from Pienaar himself, who handles himself well in front of the cameras, as a captain-elect should: “I would definitely say I am a more complete player since coming to Everton.

“I do think South Africa might still surprise a few people at the World Cup. We players have to be ready to show we are not just a team with a few individuals. Part of the problem is that, compared with some other African countries, some of our players are not hungry enough. Maybe we’re not very adventurous and don’t like to be away from home

“For us to go to the second round, that is the expectation of the people. I think we can get out of the group.

“Mexico and Uruguay play quite similar to us, only France will be a bit of a challenge for us.

“The crowd will boost the players and we will be confident with them behind us. We hope they will be behind us.”

Pienaar came out strongly in defence of South Africa when the British press were linking the Togo team bus shootings in Cabinda with the upcoming World Cup. And the man born in Westbury near Johannesburg but thriving on Merseyside, says: “You know, things are getting better in Westbury. The crime’s coming down a bit.

“I don’t think too many visitors will going to Westbury but they will be coming to a beautiful country and the tournament is going to be very good for South Africa.”

Remember, the hosts invariably do shockingly well at World Cups. South Korea, France, Germany, Argentina... blimey, even England won it when they got to host it 44 years ago.

With Pienaar and the vuvuzela-blasting home fans behind them, who knows what South Africa are capable of producing in five months' time?

The first British journalist into England's training camp... ME (and me dad and me brother!)

YESTERDAY I became the first British journalist allowed to view the England training camp before the 2010 World Cup.

And believe me, it wasn’t easy. Hidden behind the faded motel entrance (pictured, right) the Bafokeng Royal Sports Palace Complex isn’t even finished yet. Exactly 6km (about two-and-a-half-miles) beyond the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, which rises out of nowhere in Phokeng, just outside Rustenburg, Fabio Capello’s pre-tournament home is emerging out of the platinum-rich red earth.

England will play the USA at the recently-revamped 50,000-capacity Palace on June 12. But their high-altitude base is the key to success. Hidden behind a peeling sign proclaiming “Sun Gardens Motel” an unbelievable centre for sports excellence is being built in secret, funded by the local Bafokeng tribe, who claim a percentage of the platinum profits.

But British journalists and hopeful onlookers are kept at arm’s length between Phokeng and Boshoek, two tiny African villages outside Rustenburg. We drove for miles searching for the mystical England training complex, expecting huge signage, before a local explained: “It’s behind that tree.”

In disbelief, we crossed the N14 to Sun City, about 100km from the international airport in Johannesburg, which we had travelled for some time. And the gateman at the apparently drab “Sun Gardens Motel” told us: “The Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex is here sir. But you are not allowed in.”

But we are old hands at this. My locally-based father Bob, my brother Glynn and I have already discovered the German base at Velmore Estate, the Italian camp at Leriba Lodge and the USA base at Irene, all near the Test cricket ground in Centurion.

After much persuasion, the gateman called up the big guy. Mark Ferguson, group security in charge of keeping prying eyes away from England’s base. Built to satisfy the king of the Bafokeng, Kagosi Leruo Molotgeti, England have the prime spot for their World Cup preparations. But nobody is allowed to see it.

While Spain, Italy, Argentina and the like face bus journeys between their hotels, training grounds and World Cup venues, England have it all on their doorstep as they prepare to dominate Group C in June next year.

Ferguson confirmed: “The tribe are funding all of this, it’s going to be a sporting centre of excellence for years to come. We are the highest point in South Africa, 100m higher than Johannesburg and Pretoria at 1500m.

“It sets teams up for playing at altitude. We will have the New Zealand and Australia rugby teams preparing here for the Tri-Nations. All kinds of sports teams will come here. But at the moment, we’re trying to keep things under wraps, no journalists allowed. No visitors”

There followed a brief chat. It turns out Ferguson, from Durban, used to play football in Kwa Zulu Natal. I know his old mates. He lets us through the gate, beyond the Sun Gardens Motel, which appears to be a lowly front for what is to come.

We follow him on his quad bike, into the complex. Five plastic pitches are being prepared. Ten grass pitches, unfairly criticised by Capello for having bare patches, are taking shape. They’ll be perfect by May, the rains are good. At least 12 floodlight pylons are already up, with the actual lights still to come.

This is an African sporting paradise. Two of the four sections of the luxury hotel were released by the builders in November. Two more are still to come. The Presidential suites are fabulous, the mirrors are huge, the players will want for nothing. And there is a high-spec gym under construction, with oxygen chambers and all a modern footballer could wish for.

“Look, this is a project still under development. We can’t even confirm England are staying here,” says Ferguson with a wry grin, “We will be ready by May though. You’d be amazed what we can do here, and we are only using local labour. The overseas experts will be brought in later.”

Across the road lies the Kedar country hotel, already fully booked for the World Cup. You’d pay £1,000 a night to book the Presidential Suite here, in a hotel with game lodge attached. Beautiful.

In six months, England will be perfectly placed for their World Cup crusade, David Beckham’s final attempt to end 43 years of hurt. Wife Victoria and the WAGS will be based in a lodge like Kedar or Sun City, South Africa’s Las Vegas, 30 miles up the road.

If we don’t win the World Cup from here, in the middle of nowhere, we never will. With the African nations all suffering in the draw in Cape Town on December 4 and England facing the USA down the road before games against Slovenia in Cape Town and Algeria in Port Elizabeth. They’ll pop down to the coast for those two games to maintain their altitude acclimatisation. When you play at sea-level after training inland, you can run forever.

And then they come back to Phokeng, barely three miles from here, for their first knock-out encounter. It couldn’t be any better. England are looking good for the World Cup 2010. As long as you know where to look.