GROUP D: Hodgson excited yet cautious about England's young guns

Veronica Sardon, dpa

"Let's see some really good performances in the England shirt first," Hodgson told reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

He said the emergence of players like Jack Wilshire, 22, Jordan Henderson, 23, Raheem Sterling, 19, Ross Barkley, 20, and Danny Welbeck, 23, among others, bodes well for the national team.

"We have more athleticism, we have more pace, more mobility," Hodgson said.

However, he was quick to note that England's young guns have yet to deliver in the England shirt, particularly at a major event like the World Cup, and that they will have trouble doing that alone.

"In this World Cup we're also going to need our experienced players to help the younger ones along," he stressed.

Speaking of experience, Hodgson looked back on his own previous World Cup participation, as Switzerland coach in the United States 1994.

"In 20 years you've got to hope that you've evolved in some way," he said with a smile. "I would like to think I'm in a better position today."

During Hodgson's spell in Switzerland from 1992-95 he led them to their first appearance in a World Cup finals in 28 years. They even advanced to the tournament's round of 16, where they lost to Spain.

Before the first of what he described as England's only two "really intense training sessions" ahead of their opening match, against Italy in Manaus on Saturday, Hodgson played down the importance of the heat and humidity in that city, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.

"At the moment the conditions are perfect for football here today, maybe they'll be in Manaus too," he said in Rio.

He said he is "not really expecting enormous changes" in the way teams generally play, despite the difficult weather conditions in several host cities, particularly Manaus and the north-eastern venues of Natal, Salvador, Recife and Fortaleza. 

In this context, he made it clear that he is not planning to preserve players' energy, even in that difficult context.

"We're expecting our players to run around a lot," he stressed.

Hodgson upset people in Manaus when he made it clear ahead of the World Cup draw that it was the place he hoped to avoid. The city's Mayor Arthur Virgilio took offence and said he hoped the city would get "a better team and a coach who is more sensible and polite."

The draw, however, established that England will play their first World Cup match in the Amazonian city, and the two men have since ironed out their differences. It remains to be seen how local fans welcome England, and Hodgson insisted that his comments had been misunderstood.

"It's not true that we'd complained about Manaus or Brazil," Hodgson said. "That nonsense should be put to bed straight away."

Regarding England's first rivals, he said that he is "focusing very much on Italy the team," rather than on how to stop Italy's star midfielder Andrea Pirlo.

"We're not getting hung up on one player," he said.