England v Italy Preview Match of the Day Live

stunning day in Rio de Janeiro. Look outside, beautiful beaches, the sun

is shining. We are all set for a great day's football. After all the

build-up, we are nearly there. England start their World Cup

campaign in Manaus. Italy were responsible for knocking out Roy

Hodgson's men in the last tournament. At least tonight it

cannot go to penalties. This is the scene in the Arena

Amazonia were things are hotting up nicely. It is 11 o'clock local time

and already it is 31 Celsius. We will be live in the stadium shortly.

And we have got the first look at England's potential second-round

opponents coming up. We must not get ahead of her cells. Colombia take on

Greece and Belo Horizonte later today. Colombia are stuck in

traffic, we are just hearing. They are in that coach on their way to

the game. Let's hope that they make it. We have an impressive cast list

to whet the appetite further. Clarence Seedorf I'm Neil Lennon

were so keen to join us in Brazil they have relinquished all their

club responsibilities. Very good of you. We also have a World Cup winner

with us, arguably Britain's favourite Brazilian. June new joins

the BBC team. -- Juninho. It was a great start for your team? Yes, it

is great to be here. Brazil did not play the beautiful football that we

expect, but that is normal for the first game. There it is a great

atmosphere starting to build around Brazil. Obviously we have had

protests and problems, but are people getting in the mood for the

tournament? Yes, I was there, and I saw the support for the team. Even

when we conceded a goal, the supporters started to shout. The

players feel that. I think they will be one more player for Brazil. I

think the atmosphere will help Brazil on the field. Clarence, what

about Holland? They shocked the world with that performance? Yes,

they got some Brazilian flavour in their feet. It was a great start.

Nobody expected it. But Holland will definitely grow lots after that

game. It has been a good start to the tournament. We have seen lots of

goals. Here we see some spectacular ones. Yes. The games have been very

exciting. It was a fantastic start for Holland, and the games have

seemed to be quite open. I enjoyed Brazil against Croatia. I thought it

was a fabulous game. There was a top-class performance from Holland

last night. It was revenge for the World Cup final. There was a real

mix of goals, there were some mistakes, and perhaps some dodgy

decisions. But there have been great finishes. Yes, and Holland has some

of the best strikers in the world in their possession. They performed

when they had to. Robin van Persie, Arie and Robin, they showed why they

are recognised as the top strikers in the world. -- Arjen Robben. What

about this one? It was a good run. Yes, Arjen Robben has shown this

sort of form over the last couple of seasons. It was beautiful to watch

the team. We expect so much from them in terms of quality and they

did not show it at the last World Cup. He is fantastic. For the last

18 months, he has been one of the best players in the world. We can

actually hear from a very happy couple of Dutch men. I think there

was a setback when they scored their first goal. But we scored our first

goal at the perfect time, just before half-time. After that, we did

not stop going. It could have been seven or eight goals. We played

against maybe the best football team. But we kept it together and we

took our chances. We killed it off in the second half. It was a

brilliant goal. It was a gamble, but just before I received the ball, I

saw the goalkeeper in front of his goal. It was sort of a header, but

it was logged. It was a great goal. Everybody was happy, but at the same

time, we continue. It is not done yet. We are still in the group

stage. There are still games to play. There seem to be a great

atmosphere in the Dutch dressing room. Has that surprised you as much

as everyone else? We could see before the game that they are

relaxed. They are on the beach, they are enjoying it. It was Arjen Robben

and van Persie. They made the difference. They controlled the ball

perfectly. It was an unusual result, but the way that they played in the

second half, like van Persie said, the deserved more. It was very

exciting. Spain, where does it leave them? Four years ago, they lost to

Switzerland, but in entirely different circumstances. They were

hit with a sucker punch, but yesterday was humiliation. Yes, they

have been playing really high pressure football for a long time. I

wonder if it is catching up with them. Have we seen the end of the

need with Spain? We cannot write them off. They are still the

reigning champions. They got a great wake-up call for this tournament. --

the end of an era. It could easily be Brazil against Spain in the last

16. Yes, that would be a great test for both of them. They have to beat

Chile. That will not be easy. Chile played really well, especially in

the first half. We will build up to Colombia against Greece later, but

excuse as if we had a little bit patriotic. It is time to talk about

England and get our first taste of life in the Amazon.

Good afternoon from Manaus. This is where England will start their World

Cup campaign at six o'clock local time. It is warming up very nicely.

Thankfully we have to make cool customers. Danny Murphy and Phil

Neville. It is great to have you. Kick-off is seven hours away. Lots

of people have asked two questions about this England team. The first

game is against Italy, what are your feelings? I am excited. I woke up

early this morning, like a child at Christmas. I think I am positive. We

do not know the line-up yet, but we have young, vibrant players. That is

no reason we cannot go into this game full of confidence. The

Italians are very experienced and have some terrific players, so we

should not expect too much too soon. We have spoken about the temperature

in the build-up. The other talking point has been the pitch. It is

rather browning the background. I know that you like cricket. On this

surface, you would definitely ball first? Yes! I think they have done a

fantastic job on the surface. They have definitely used lots of green

paint. Both managers said that they were totally happy with the playing

surface. So let's get on with it. The pitch has been a big talking

point. We have also mentioned the heat and humidity. We thought we

would ask Danny what it is like to play in the seat of the jungle. --

the heat. The body is continuously producing seat, even when it is at

rest. The amount increases with muscular activity. The temperature

consumes you long period and drains US energy. Because of that,

consumes you long period and drains US energy. Because of the

decision-making goes array because of tiredness. On being transported

to a hot country, the response to temperature is at first quite

sluggish. But it improves over the first couple of weeks. We were told

that we should expose ourselves to the sun for at least 90 minutes each

day. You will have to be mentally strong and call upon the experiences

of before, knowing that you can come through when you are tired. It saps

US energy. You have got to hydrate well during the game, before the

game, and make sure that you do everything you can to give yourself

the best chance. In the desert, a man can lose four pints of water an

hour if he is working hard. If you do not drink a lot, you will be

dehydrated. Here are the water bags that we were talking about. I do not

worry for the England team. I feel positive that the energy and

vibrancy of the young lads in the team will pull us through and give a

positive result against the Italians. Because of his ability to

sweat and his Italians. Because of his ability to

sweat hairless skin, man is ideally suited to the tropical regions where

he seems to have originated. Fascinating. An insight into the way

that the human body reacts to heat. Because we have two European sides

playing in these conditions, do you think that the pace of the game will

be slow tonight? The locals say that for the first 60 minutes the pace of

the game is no different to Europe, and then it slows down. Even if

you're a Brazilian footballer, it gets to you. I think the substitutes

will be vital. I think Roy Hodgson will use three early substitutes. It

will make a massive impact. We have seen some innovations at this World

Cup, the magic form. The goal decision system has been pointless

so far. But one of the other innovations is water breaks. They

will measure the temperature 90 minutes before a game. If it is 32

degrees or higher, there will be three breaks where players can take

on water. Later tonight, it is expected to be around 26 degrees so

we do not expected to be around 26 degrees so

we think we will see the water breaks. If you cast your mind back

to December, Roy Hodgson was saying it could be 35 degrees and 90%

humidity. So it is better than many feared it could be. I think you're

right, but I think the water breaks with -- I think the water breaks

would be a good idea, because we want quality football. It is the

humidity that is the problem, not the temperature. When the committee

is high, it is really hard to get air into your lungs. I do not think

it is a bad idea. I'm surprised the cut-off point is 32 degrees. When

you get knackered in the last 30 minutes, is it a mentality that gets

in? Making that extra yard to make minutes, is it a mentality that gets

in? Making that extra yard that extra tackle, is that what becomes

crucial? That is what the England manager is stressing to his player.

-- players. You cannot allow any slip-ups in that last 30 minutes

because that will be the vital part of the game. For 60 minutes you will

see a really tight game. England will play safe and secure and look

to counterattack. In the last 15 minutes, that is when you will see

mistakes happen. England have no control over the conditions but they

have controlled the build-up. It has been very low-key, there have been

no big stories coming from the camp. They came to train on the pitch.

They said the surface will be OK. The only thing they needed to do was

the pre-match press Conference. Here is the captain and the boss. What is

your assessment of the pitch? Is it good enough for a World Cup game? I

don't see any reason to be concerned about it at all. We are perfectly

happy to go on that pitch tomorrow night. I think it will suit both

teams. It is totally fine. The grass is a perfect length. We do not kick

off until 6pm and the sun will be away. I'm sure the water will stay

on and it will be quick and zippy. Now that you are here and seeing the

heat and humidity, what you think it will be like? It is obviously warm,

it will be a difficult game, but I think we will be fine, we will be

able to cope. We are really prepared and focused and we believe we can

cope in these conditions. I don't think we are concerned about the

heat and humidity because we have been training in heat and humidity

and we are looking very fit as a result of it. As far as I'm

concerned, the only matters to deal with tomorrow night are the quality

of the Italian team, to make sure we can match their quality and then

better it. We have respect for Italy, there is certainly no fear.

We are confident and really focus on our game plan. We cannot wait for

kick-off. In terms of insight into an England camp, we have some good

contenders. This fellow is the brother of one of the coaches, and

Danny Murphy played under Roy Hodgson. Did he ever quote Latin? I

think he probably did. He was an intelligent man who came out with

good quotes. What is important tonight is the tactical element of

the game, which I'm sure they have been working on very hard. As Phil

was saying, as the game wears on there will be choices to make. For

me, Roy is probably as good as there will be choices to make. For

me, Roy is probably as you get in terms of making that decision. Any

Latin knowledge? I do not. Through adversity to the stars. Roy Hodgson

was quite upbeat. That was about as upbeat as he has been. They seem

very relaxed. Is it different to England squads you and your brother

were in? I can only relate it to 2006. That was very focused, very

happy. I have not had that in Spain. I cannot believe there has been no

drama, no injuries, apart from the little knot for Alex

Oxlade-Chamberlain. -- little injury. They were saying they would

do well. That was good to see. We will talk about the Italians later.

You think Roy Hodgson will not go for a man marking Andrea Pirlo. You

think he is not dictated to by the opposition. He will be respectful of

the opposition of course, and he will talk about that, but he will be

more focused on the way that his players do the job in a system. He

will not want players swapping and man marking. That is not what he

does. They will be well-organised, they will play the zones, they will

be close together, they will hit them on the counterattack. He will

not be swayed if they play a different formation. Gary Lineker

was mentioning at breakfast earlier this week that he played in 42

degrees in Monterey. We are off for a shower and a sure change. You can

join in on Twitter. -- to change our shirts. We will use the best

comments on the BBC website. We will see you back in Manaus in a couple

of minutes. He failed to mention that its response was that he played

for 90 seconds in Spain and it was quite hot. Very nice to get an

non-English perspective on England, because we look at it in a biased

nature. Clarence, how do you see it? It is a good mix, intelligent

players, young players, with some experienced players. The coach has

experience, he is calm. Not too much excitement about the camp, as there

was in South Africa. It is the first time in a long time that the

expectations are generally pretty low and realistic. Do you think that

is a good thing? I think it will suit the players going into the

tournament. What they have is people who can eliminate people. Defensive

structures are well set up, people like Raheem Sterling and Ross

Barkley, they can open up defences. I think they are more exciting to

watch and they certainly have some really gifted footballer. I worry

about them defensively, with the full-backs. I think they will give

it a good game. Should he go with the young players? I would like to

see him play Raheem Sterling. He has great balance and pace. Ross Barkley

would suit them on the counterattack. What is the sense in

Brazil? Do people here consider England as any sort of threat?

Sorry? Do they worry about England? Do they think they are a serious

candidate to win the tournament? Yes. Not like Brazil, Germany or

Argentina, but yes, in that game especially, it could be an advantage

for England, because they have a younger squad than Italy. In Manaus

you need that. In the second half, England can be fitter. Have you

played in Manaus? Only once. It is enough. It is very difficult. You

feel, especially in the second half, your body is very tired. Clarence,

England go into this game with people not expecting as much as

normal. Surely confidence is important. You have to believe in

yourself. Being realistic is a great strength. Expectations can stress

the team rather than motivate them. The more realistic expectation, it

will give them more balance, and representing England is always an

important thing and I think it is a positive aspect for England at the

moment. We are about 40 minutes away from kick-off of Colombia and

Greece. The atmosphere is building in the stadium. We could have a look

at the two teams. Colombia have lost their star

striker before the tournament. A defensive reshuffle has meant the

following partnership. The Greeks are boosted by the return

to fitness of Borussia Dortmund's Greek centre-back. You might

remember him marking Messi very tightly a few years ago. Falcao is a

big loss to Colombia. Yes, but it could be positive. He is here with

the players. Colombia is a very emotional, passionate team, and

maybe they can play for him. They have been so many years out of the

World Cup, they want to make a great World Cup, and I think they have a

condition to do that. It is a shame, we have lost a few of the star

players. He is one of them. Absolutely. And I agree. I looked at

the line-up and they have an interesting defence. Very fast

players, the full-backs, and the centre-half pairing, they are very

good and fast. I have played with one of them in AC Milan. I expect

they can do well. They have good players up front, and with the extra

motivation of not having their key player. We have free scoring

Columbians who scored plenty of goals in qualification against

Greece, who have the best defence. Is it going to be attack against the

defence? No question of that. Greece have tried to get away from the

defensive structure, but they cannot. They have tried to play a

player game but the players go back into that. They rely on Georgios

Samaras a lot. But they have lost some good players. Thank you for the

moment. Plenty more shortly, but we can get back to Manaus and join

them. Welcome back. You might be looking round the stadium, it does

look rather snazzy. Around 42,000 fans will be here. Hardly any of

this was built in Brazil. Shipped in from Portugal, the roof came from

Germany. There was a real race to get it ready in time for the day.

The dressing room was only completed yesterday and they are still putting

down tarmac outside. They are practising the national anthems on

the PA. England will be in the first dressing room, and one of the four

Liverpool players expected to start is Jordan Henderson. He has been

speaking to Gabby Logan. Do you think England are in a better

position to beat Italy than two years ago? I would like to think

so. That is no disrespect to the players in Euro 2012, because I felt

we had a very good squad. But I think with the addition of the likes

of Raheem Sterling, players like that have shown what they can do in

the Premier League and been brilliant and really shone. Could

you imagine that two years later, you would be so integral to Roy

Hodgson's World Cup? I think I've improved since then, if that is what

you mean. I feel as though I have come a long way with the help of a

lot of people, Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool really helped us, in terms

of tactics and stuff like that. When your manager has confidence in you,

it gives me a lot of confidence and belief. We speak about Steven

Gerrard and your relationship with him for Liverpool. That partnership

is working so well. In this formation it is even more important.

Does he tell you what to do? I listen to him more than he listens

to me. He does give really good advice. For me, he has been

brilliant. To be playing alongside him, every week, is an honour for

me. It has only improved me as a player and a person. You are in the

engine room so conditions will affect you as much if not more than

anybody else. Has it been weighing on your mind how hot and humid it is

in Manaus? Not really. We have had to adapt to the heat, get used to

it. Obviously there is a lot of running in the middle of the park

but we need to be clever, obviously we will not be able to run up and

down the pitch for 90 minutes like we would in the Premier League, but

we need to use our brains are little bit, went to press and when not to.

That will be a big factor, hopefully we can perfect fit well. There you

go. The anthem finishes in the background. If you have ever

wondered what they do, they test the anthems. Let us have a look at the

probable England team. This is what we think the starting XI will be

taking on Italy tonight in Manaus. Is there enough in there to scare

the Italians? I would like to see Raheem Sterling starting, but I

think whoever plays has an opportunity to cement their place in

the team and become a national hero. We have plenty of attacking

talent, I hope we do start the game on the front foot. Knowing Roy as I

do, I think we might sit back and try and get them on the counter in

the first 20 minutes, so the pace will be crucial. What about your

take on that England side, there will? It is very different from the

team from two years ago in the European Championships.

I think the back four picks itself, I think it is the front four where

there is a bit of? , will he gamble a bit and go with Raheem Sterling, I

think it is so important with our wide players, they need to play

narrow today, we have to try and dispossess the Italians and spring

off on the counterattack. You mentioned there about you want the

players to go out there and do what they're capable of, that is such a

difficult mindset to get right at the start of a major tournament, to

come on the biggest stage possible and to perform. The meat, momentum

is hard to get back. -- for me. If you start well, it gives you a good

foothold in the game. I am saying, start on the front foot, give them

some problems and try and take the lead and then you can try and drop

off. It you start negatively and you are under pressure, it is hard to

turn that momentum around. Danny and I are staying in the Italian team

hotel. This morning, the players were coming down in the lift and

Buffon came down, he was flanked by two members of the Italian medical

team and he has tweeted that he will not be starting the game for Italy

tonight. A bit of a change in the goalkeeper position for Italy. We

will hear from our spy in the camp now.

Saturday, what is the key for how it plays out? We will start with a back

four, then five midfielders, one of them will be De Rossi, who has been

dropping a lot defensively and sometimes becomes like the third

centre-half. That gives us a little bit more solidity defensively. Then

with five midfielders, we can dictate the tempo of the match and

passed the ball around for fun. And we can keep possession, like Spain a

little bit. Sometimes we abominable on the flanks. -- are vulnerable.

Sometimes we will have to make forward runs to join Balotelli

otherwise he will be left on his own up front. So we will probably have

plenty of midfielders making forward runs. Also, having so many talented

midfielders, in a way it takes a lot of pressure off Pirlo, because some

of the opposition was just man marking him to try and stop Italy

from playing. But now with De Rossi and Marchisio, if he is marked

tightly, we have other players capable of getting the ball from the

back and playing it forward. Who is going to win? I am not sitting on

the fence here, I think it will be a draw. I think it will be open to

start with, one team will go on top and then there will be an equaliser

at the last 25 minutes, both teams will sort of look at each other

without taking too many chances, because there are still two matches

to be played and the two teams respect each other. They probably

feel that going through depends on what happens against Uruguay and

Costa Rica rather than against Italy or England. The thoughts of the

magnificently bearded spy of hours. How big I miss is Buffon? He turned

his ankle he has led Italy on so many occasions. He is the captain,

the leader, you only have to look at the tournament in South Africa, when

he was injured, the team struggled. He gives the team confidence and

that bit of insurance that you need in the big games, he is a massive

loss. Let's look at that probable Italian team.

The midfield five looks very impressive. You think that is

possibly the strongest midfield in the tournament. It is one of them. I

think Pirlo, De Rossi and variety all have good technical ability and

are able to play in different positions. They won't be static,

that is where England could have problems. They have tremendous

experience and over the course of 90 minutes, it's going to be important

to stay focused defensively on stopping them, because those three

are where the Italians will get hold of the game. We know plenty about

their players, we know about Balotelli, we have this mild fear of

Pirlo because of what he did to England two years ago... More than

mild! Are there others to be looking at in that side as well?

mild! Are there others to be looking at in that side I am not overly

fussed with him, when they are on the ball, we have to get to them

quick. We had to sniff the danger and get to them quick, they're not

the quickest of players. If time on the ball, are brilliant in

possession and many plating the rhythm, but tonight we have to stop

them getting that rhythm. -- manipulating. You have done your

research! Prandelli is brilliant at game management committee changes

the system to suit the opposition, that is something religious and will

have to be aware of stop -- Roy Hodgson will have to be aware of. I

don't know if they would say publicly, what is more important

than the result is the level of performance, something to build on,

because momentum is huge in tournament football. For the England

players to wake up tomorrow morning and feel they still have a good

chance and they have put in a good performance is more important than

anything else. We have been talking about this for years, many people

will be thinking, at last it is finally here, are you both excited

about the start of this campaign? I was at the opening ceremony and I

have never seen anything like it. When the Brazil national anthem, you

did get emotional, it was a spine tingling moment. I can't wait for

this. I think the games have been brain. Even the opening game,

terrific quality, a few surprises, the Holland game last night, even

the Mexicans, they have been superb. Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure.

We mentioned that we are in the Italian team hotel. Danny did ask me

to set off the fire alarm, I am sorry, I have let my country down,

but I did see him knocking around the breakfast table this morning!

Let's get a little take on Italy. Clarence, you are perfectly placed.

First, the breaking news that Buffon, great goalkeeper for Italy,

is out. He has tweeted this morning, there are many ways to be important,

even if you can't be a protagonist on the pitch, so go, Salvatore. A

very important loss, a leader on the field, off the field. Important to

lose in the first match than after, so hopefully it isn't too bad for

him. It can have an effect losing people at this stage, though.

Especially a goalkeeper. You need them to make important saves at the

important moments. It is a huge psychological blow. How do you see

Italy at the moment? Buffon, when Italy is not organised, Buffon makes

great saves. So I think they can feel the difference. But I don't

think... Buffon is a keeper, an important player, but he's not a

striker, midfielder, playmaker, so maybe it could be worse for Italy to

lose other players. I don't think both teams will have a draw, I think

they will pay attention in the last 15, 20 minutes, they can decide the

game for each other. I think it is huge if you start the World Cup

winning. I think they have to pay attention about that. If you were

playing and bought Buffon wasn't playing, you would be rubbing your

hands. You want any edge, 1% difference. It would be a blow to

them. Clarence can you have worked with Balotelli, we all have our view

on him, no one questioned his talent, what is he like to work

with? It was really exciting, actually. He is very young, but he

is so talented. He has great will to improve his game, and he did. I

think the more difficult thing for him is to really mature as a man.

Because on the field, he has been showing his skills but not as

consecutively as we would like to see. I think that is all to do with

becoming more mature and becoming a man. You think he still has some

growing up to do? Yes, with 18 years, he was already playing,

privacy was all gone, it was easy to criticise him from the outside. Of

course, behaviour on the pitch has been questionable sometimes but I

have to say that the five, six months we worked together, he only

had two yellow cards, was always available, practically. So I expect

to see more Balotelli. As a footballer, how good? He has

everything committee has speed, strength, he can shoot from all

positions. Being the only striker, it is something he doesn't always

like, he likes to play more moving around the field. He is cute as

well! He will try and buy free kicks around the box. We came up against

him twice this season and he was very impressive. If you were up

against a player like Balotelli, do you say to your players, try and

wind him up? Of course, see if he takes the bait. He can be a bit

emotional. To be fair to him, he was very controlled in both games. Let's

turn our attention to today's games. Do you know what they say,

forewarned is forearmed.