England arrive in South Africa
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Your support makes all the difference.England have arrived in South Africa safe in the knowledge that manager Fabio Capello remains fully committed to the cause after he pledged himself to the role until after Euro 2012.
The 23-man squad touched down in Johannesburg this morning ahead of the three-hour journey to their Rustenburg base.
Capello's future had been the subject of much debate this week after Inter Milan openly courted the 63-year-old to fill the void left by treble-winning coach Jose Mourinho's departure for Real Madrid.
The Italian tactician repeatedly denied any interest in their advances and, just hours before England flew out for the World Cup finals, he ensured his future was with England.
Capello had previously reached a verbal agreement with former FA chairman Lord Triesman to stay until after Euro 2012 and he firmed up that commitment by removing a clause in his current four-year deal that would allow either the Italian or his employers to activate a break following this summer's World Cup.
Now with his future sorted, Capello can begin preparations for the Group C opener against the United States on June 12 and the campaign he hopes will end at the World Cup final at Soccer City on July 11.
"I am very happy about this and would like to thank Sir David Richards and the FA for their continued support and assurances about my future," he said.
"I always wanted to stay until the end of my contract.
"In South Africa, we are totally focused on the World Cup."
England will have been preparing for the best part of a month, including nearly two weeks at a training camp in Austria, before they face the Americans a week on Saturday.
But captain Rio Ferdinand is confident that the boredom factor will not affect the players through such a lengthy build-up.
He said: "The days leading up to the first game are the most important period in terms of staying away from boredom and stuff like that.
"Once the games start, you are watching other games, and the adrenalin kicks in, and you are chomping at the bit to get to the next game, and you are recuperating after games and stuff.
"The initial period before the games start is the boredom period but we've got a lot to do, computers, cards, table tennis, pool etc. We've got great facilities at the camp which is good."
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