Home News Columnists Neil Farrington

Life a pitch? Send 'em to boot camp

Feb 28 2010 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

WHEN it comes to the World Cup, you can’t accuse us of not getting our excuses in early.

What’s a near-perfect qualifying campaign next to the faint possibility that England’s South African training HQ might not be quite what our lads are accustomed to?

Pitches unlaid, accommodation unfinished and completion date uncertain = unbridled panic.

What good is Fabio Capello’s super-chilled temperament when there are no ice cube machines in his players’ hotel corridors?

What matter Wayne Rooney’s scintillating form next to having no free Wi-Fi or, er, “niche” pay-per-view TV channels in his luxury suite?

What point Ashley Cole recovering from injury if his room won’t have space to swing a cat, let alone take a snap?

What price some idiot actually believing such things matter to our chances of beating Brazil, Spain or Italy?

Such was the fuss over Fabio Capello’s “crisis visit” there this week that, had he listened closely beyond the noise of the mechanical diggers and cement mixers at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus, he’d surely have heard Sir Alf Ramsey turning in his grave.

Never mind giving them the space and privacy to take dodgy pics of themselves in full-length mirrors, Ramsey would happily have had his players sleep together in a dorm.

Wayne Bridge and John Terry could have shared a bunk . . .

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