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The head coach of the England national team, Sven Goran Eriksson, confirmed that substitute striker Jermain Defoe will fly to Germany on Monday with the England national team.
J. Defoe has represented the England national team 16 times throughout his career and has one goal to his name. The striker will travel to Germany with the team in order to replace Wayne Rooney, who is recovering from an injury.
S. G. Eriksson also expressed his hope that W. Rooney will play in this World Cup, but one of the main strikers of the England national team still awaits a medical examination this Wednesday.
"Defoe is flying with us to Germany because we need to reassure ourselves about Wayne Rooney," Eriksson said. "It is obvious that many, like me, believe that he will return from Manchester on the same Wednesday night. I have no doubt he will succeed, but I cannot be completely sure until the examination is completed," the coach added.
According to FIFA rules, S. G. Eriksson has 24 hours before his first Group B match with the Paraguay national team to replace W. Rooney.
S. G. Eriksson also emphasized the good team spirit following their 6-0 victory over the Jamaica national team on Saturday.
"We believe we will perform well. The spirit in the team is simply fantastic, although it was very good before, it is even better now," said the coach.
The chances of another English player, Andy Johnson, appearing in the World Cup are minimal. However, the player believes that S. G. Eriksson would have included him in the squad if he had played in the Premier League last season.
Throughout his career, he represented his country twice, but recently his place was taken by the young 17-year-old Arsenal striker, Theo Walcott.
25-year-old Johnson is on the substitute list behind J. Defoe, who S. G. Eriksson recently invited to the national team.
"If we hadn't dropped to a lower level and I had scored 10 or 12 goals in the Premier League, I probably could have represented my country now," the striker reflected.
"I think I could have had a good chance to get into the starting lineup if I had played in the Premier League last season. Instead, I stayed at Crystal Palace, where I scored 17 goals, and I have no regrets about this decision," Johnson explained his thoughts.
Last Tuesday, after four years spent at Crystal Palace, he moved to Everton for £8.6 million.
