England begin preparations facing Brazil's Samba stars in Doha

Fabio Capello - can he bring the World Cup home to England? (Daily Mail images)

New England, and renewed hope. Remember England's past World Cup preparations of typical media 'overhype'? I thought so. It affected Robson, Hoddle, and previously Eriksson as the past managers who were suffocated by the pressures of the nation's expectancy. Under current coach Fabio Capello, this is no different, but his style of leadership of strict professionalism and respect separates him from the previous in a good way.

When he began his reign, the Italian was not philosophical of the side's predicament. The FA deciced to sack Steve McClaren on the grounds of failing to qualify for Euro 2008, and it was left to Capello to pick up the pieces in what was then a very disillusioned and a morale-sapped squad.

What were McClaren's and previosuly before him, Erikkson's failings were their ultimate confidence in team selection. Both had little - Erikkson failed to solve the problem of pairing Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in midfield, in what seemed just as puzzling to him as solving a Rubix Cube, and McClaren reinstated David Beckham and Emile Heskey in his team when both stalwards looked finished and too uncompetitive to pull on the Three Lions shirt.

Under Capello's leadership, however, he began to appeased together the cracks in the team which he has revealed on a countless occasions, team confidence. The team picked itself then after. The master tactician has instilled a squad bonding based on respect - in 2008, it had been learned the team used to eat together in their squad hotel preparing for upcoming internationals, and told them to keep a tight rein on their 'fish & chips and packets of crisps' diet. The squad arguably looks much fitter and motivated than it has ever been.

Wayne Rooney looked rejuvenated during England's World Cup qualification campaign, backed up by topping the scoring charts covering Europe. And Lampard and Gareth Barry has looked much settled at the heart of midfield. Also to an extent, Steven Gerrard has found glimpses of world-class form on the left wing that makes him the virtually unplayable player he is at Liverpool, though many think Capello will need to fine-tune his role by the time the tournament starts in June.

At the back and goalkeeper, there is room for improvement and greater efficiency with the ball from them. Mistakes have been evident, namely from Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson and Robert Green during the past year which have been embarrassingly exposed against weak opposition like Slovenia. The backline were also found wanting against Europe's heavyweights, Holland, and especially with Spain.

We are, by all means, not a perfect harmony like the Three Tenors, but nor we are as bad as Susan Boyle. England has the potential and talent on show to go the distance in South Africa next June, and myself cannot wait to see the moment that the team brings home the trophy that they have every right in deserving for their efforts and endeavor thus far.

Diamanti provides chink of light under Upton Park gloom

Alessandro Diamanti (Guardian images)

I watched West Ham's match against Everton on Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evening, and was taken aback at how bad they were and their recent alarming drop of form has led to chorus of boos from the Upton Park crowd.

However, the introduction of Alessandro Diamanti bought about some green shoots of recovery. The Italian playmaker set up Junior Stanislas, who dinked his shot over the advancing Tim Howard but lacked power to reach over the line until opposition defender Tony Hibbert, who seemed to have the ball covered, sliced dismally into his own net.

We lost this game 2-1, and the appearance of the gutsy and skillful Diamanti stamped his own authority on the game. He looks good, and performed admirably against Arsenal when he was easily the inspiration of our 2-2 comeback result.

West Ham also look uncertain at the back, even though much has been made of Carlton Cole's hamstring injury, which is indeed a huge blow for the Hammers. Although Matt Upson has soon great leadership, the other defenders, notably James Tomkins, Julien Faubert and Herita Illunga have very shaky and unreassuring. Rob Green is also a mixed bag since being introduced to the international limelight with England.

It is off to Hull then on Saturday, and a solid performance against the Tigers is essential for reaffirming the fans' confidence in Gianfranco Zola.

Formula 1 2009 season finishes as Button sews up title in classy fashion

The Formula One 2009 season marked a new world champion while still leaving motor sport's most prestigious title in Great Britain. Jenson Button stuttered through much of the latter half of the season, only for a heroic drive in the penultimate Grand Prix in Brazil's Interlagos circuit crowned him his first drivers' title.

Button dominated the first half of the season, winning six of the first seven races. Capitalising on his rivals car's under-development, especially with Hamilton's McLaren and Ferrari, he coasted through to victory in Australia, Bahrain, Malaysia, Spain, Monaco and Turkey, with much made out by the media of the car's double diffuser which greatly helps the car's downforce.

Despite the victories, Button soon found out who his chief protagonists for the title were Sebastien Vettel, Mark Webber and particularly teammate Rubens Barrichello. Vettel had victories in Shanghai and Silverstone, but was hindered by his lack of consistency, while Webber only showed glimpses of sparkling form during the middle and latter parts of the season. Barrichello was found wanted for much of the season, until he pounced on his teammate's misfortunes by winning races in Valencia and Monza and grown into a serious title by the Brazil GP.

Hamilton also played a role into the destination of the title. While his car deserted him at the start of the season, his form picked up in from Monaco, and won his first grand prix of the year at Hungary. He took points from championship contenders, and made Button's title quest easier.

McLaren Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen had a stinker of a season - tallying only 22 points - not even half the points total to what Hamilton amassed (49). despite this, the Finn had a solid race in Abu Dhabi from 18th after he suffered a blown engine in qualifying. He marched all the way up to 11th, disrupting Ferrari's Kimi Raikonnen plans from stealing third in the constructors championship, in what marked a disappointing year for the two constructor giants.

Felipe Massa performed to his best in an unbalanced car; the highlights of his struggles finishing 7th in the Spanish Grand Prix after being told by his team to slow his car down while running fourth in a desperate attempt to save fuel to finish the race. His ugly accident at Hungary in qualifying still provides a warning sign the dangers of the sport.

If Ferrari and McLaren's year was a puzzling one, Toyota's problem was like attempting to solve the Rubix cube. There were stages of the season where there was glimmer of ultra lightening pace, represented by pole position in the Bahrain Grand Prix, to Timo Glock's second place in Singapore. With Toyota plunging large investments in the sport, you have to wonder their lack of achievement in the sport thus far could spark the beginning of the end for the Japanese manufacturer.

Meanwhile, at the top of the standings was Button. His performance in Brazil was impeccable and showed critics of him that he was not a worthy champion. He made five classy overtaking manoeuvres, most of them over rookie drivers who many thought at the beginning of the race could display an erratic piece of driving to take the Briton out. Romain Grosjean and particularly, the all-action Kamui Kobayashi, displayed aggression but acceptance that Button was clearly faster at the early stages of the race. Coupled with Vettel's and Barrichello's misfortunes during qualifying and the race, Button sealed the title with a race to spare.

Now onto 2010, and I'm particularly licking my lips in anticipation of key driver moves and the introduction of new teams Lotus, Campos, Manor and US GP. This would extend the F1 grid to 28 cars.

Thus far, Button has signed a contract to stay with the Brawn team, fuelling speculation that he could take a larger salary in moving to McLaren and join Hamilton's team. If this is the case, he would be very unlikely to defend his crown, being that the McLaren team is built around creating world championship success for Hamilton.

Ferrari have confirmed their 2010 driver pairing, with Fernando Alonso joining Massa for the Marenello squad. The team has the makings of putting a championship-winning season next year, and halting production on this year's cars at least six races early could put them in good stead for 2010 which sees refueling banned. Can't wait until March then...