World Cup: Five players out to impress Capello

Surprisingly, given how soon England’s World Cup squad will be making the trip to South Africa, there are still several positions up for grabs. The opportunities are partly down to injuries (Lennon, Lescott and Brown are all doubtful) but an increase in English talent also means that Capello faces some tough decisions when determining a final squad.
 
The First Post focuses on five talented hopefuls, all of whom think they warrant a World Cup place and will be looking to impress Capello in Sunday’s last games of the Premier League season.

Adam johnson

Arriving at Manchester City from Championship club Middlesbrough in January, 22-year-old Adam Johnson looked to many like a speculative buy who would take a season or two to blossom.
 
That has not been the case. Switched from the left wing to the right he has been hugely impressive and played a key part in City's successful end to the season (last night’s defeat to Spurs notwithstanding).
 
A rarity in modern football, Johnson is an old-fashioned winger, slight of build and with a game based mainly on technique. It is this that has seen him usurp fellow England hopeful Shaun Wright-Phillips in City’s starting line-up.  He could do so for England, too.
 
Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell (above) only found himself training with Arsenal after he walked out on Notts County late last year and needed somewhere to help him maintain his fitness in anticipation of the January transfer window. He found himself being asked back to his old club on the basis that he would be a valuable back-up and source of experience to a threadbare defence.

Since then he has exceeded any expectations. With Gallas injured, he has had to play week in week out and has consistently been Arsenal's best defender. In a league where pace is king, he has shown that a wise and mature head – he's now 35 - is a more than ample substitute.

Ledley King
Ledley King is another defender who has overcome physical detriments to become a star of the Premier League this season. A knee injury that he will never shake off means that the 29-year-old is able to play just once a week for Spurs while he waits for the swelling to go down between games.
 
However, last night's crucial match against Manchester City was an exception. Having played against Villa just five days before, King begged his manager Harry Redknapp to let him participate. Redknapp's decision to humour his defender paid off. World-class strikers Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor were kept at bay and Tottenham won the match to guarantee a final fourth place in the Premier League and Champions League qualification next season.
 
Bobby Zamora

Bobby Zamora, 29, has been the archetypal Premier League journeyman finding his home at Fulham only after disappointing spells at Tottenham and West Ham. But having scored just 30 goals in 146 games before joining Fulham, Zamora has scored 19 goals this season (eight of them in Europe).
 
While his goals have been a key factor in Fulham's astonishing success this season, they are only a small part of his game. He is primarily a "big striker" in the Peter Crouch/Emile Heskey mould, perfect for pairing with a centre forward. His goals are merely a bonus on top of his abilities at collecting and holding up the ball in the final third.

Of his rivals, Crouch is a shoe-in thanks to his prolific England scoring record. But neither Carlton Cole nor Emile Heskey have been at their best of late and many would like to see Zamorra playing alongside Wayne Rooney in the World Cup.

Gary Neville
Alex Ferguson invoked the mirth of journalists and pundits alike when he suggested - in all seriousness - that his captain Gary Neville was just as quick as Franck Ribery before United's battle with Bayern Munich. A long and illustrious career has seen Neville's pace dwindle and his injuries become more frequent.
 
Ferguson may simply have been trying to take the pressure off a veteran who is admittedly on the verge of being sent to the knackers' yard but who had to face Bayern because other squad members were injured. In the event, Neville coped with the pressure and proved that he is by no means done yet. Like Sol Campbell, he is 35, lacks pace, but has the advantage of having seen it all before and offers Capello a more than adequate replacement right back. ·