After three weeks of preparation in Miami, Portugal and in the heat chambers of St George’s Park, England arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday for the meat of their summer.
The last time the two sides met was two years ago, when the Italians knocked England out of UEFA EURO 2012 on penalties after a 0-0 stalemate in which Hodgson’s team were passed off the park. Unlike last time, a goalless draw would not result in a shoot-out lottery from 12 yards.
Instead it would give England a solid base on which they could go into their next games against Uruguay and Costa Rica. But there is certainly no suggestion from the England camp that a draw will be good enough.
Speaking from the tarmac, he said:
"Team spirit is very very good, and it has been good since the moment we met up in Portugal, we have always had our focus on the day when we would focus on Manaus, we are getting more and more acclimatized to conditions."
Odd phrasing - its WINTER in Brazil and Sao Paulo was cold last week, mild this week - who knows for WC?