Slovenia looking to knock out England

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP):

England's World Cup worries at this stage usually revolve around the fact they have not won the title since 1966.

The more pressing concern this time, ahead of their Group C match against Slovenia today, is the possibility of repeating their 1958 failure to advance past the group stage.

That is the scenario facing coach Fabio Capello and his apparently discordant English players. A loss to Slovenia would end any chance of England making it to the round of 16.

England have two points after a 1-1 draw with the United States and a surprising 0-0 stalemate with Algeria.

England did not qualify for the World Cup in 1974, 1978 and 1994, but when they have made it to the quadrennial event, the team usually performs relatively well - losing in the semi-finals in 1990, the quarter-finals in 1962, 1986, 2002 and 2006 and the second round in 1982 and 1998.

Their chances today will not be helped by rumours of a rift between the players and Capello, which spread rapidly after defender John Terry's remarks about a summit between squad and coach.

But on Monday at England's training base in Rustenburg, midfielder Frank Lampard said Terry's emotional talk of the team meeting was in keeping with the ex-captain's style.

"The messages I got yesterday from people was that John was saying some positive things," Lampard said.

He was emphatic that any reports of problems were driven by those outside the team.

"A rift honestly isn't there," Lampard said. "When things get difficult in football - results and performances - people will try to say there are factions (within the squad) and we have to make sure we stay very united.

"We're not happy with how we're playing as a group. Nobody is."

He said Capello has "given us our confidence back".

"We didn't have that before. Over the two years before (Capello arrived) it was very low. He got us into a compact form of a team and some of our performances have been top draw."

After the match against Algeria, England players were booed by their own fans.

Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek offered a tidbit about his starting team.

"Usually, I never speak about my first 11 but this time I can say that Mavric (Matej Mavric-Rozic) will definitely play if (Marko) Suler doesn't make it," said Kek.

"Perhaps I will give this information because Fabio Capello has told everyone that Matthew Upson will start."

Kek didn't want to talk about problems England might be experiencing, but added that it would mean a lot if his team could knock England out of the tournament.

"It would also be terrific if Slovenia came to the second round," he said. "We are self-confident, we are courageous and we will be able to face up to England."

Kek said the expected pro-England bias in the crowd would not affect his side.

"Our challenge is to go to the knockout phase and it is additional motivation to play against a team that is so big," Kek said. "Most fans at the stadium will be in favour of England, but we have also shown that we play very good in the face of so much opposition.