From Whitton to the World Cup

Derek Davis

Whitton to the World Cup

By Derek Davis

ALTHOUGH he can see his World Cup dream getting closer to coming true, former Suffolk schoolboy Matthew Upson insists on taking it step by step.

Under Fabio Capello, England have recorded an impressive six successive victories from their qualifiers after returning from Kazakhstan with a 4-0 win.

Extending that 100% record with another comprehensive display against minnows Andorra at Wembley would all but guarantee safe passage into the finals.

And Upson, who once played in the same Whitton youth team in Ipswich as Kieron Dyer and Richard Wright would simply love to go from Whitton to the World Cup: “It would mean everything to me to get to the World Cup.

“It is something I have dreamt of for a long time and have worked hard towards over the last four or five years.

“This has been the best season of my career to date, I have played the most games for England and developed well, so I am very positive about next season.”

Upson feels there is still room for improvement if england are to be genuine contenders for World Cup glory in South Africa next summer.

While Upson, who is set to partner captain John Terry once again with Rio Ferdinand injured, accepts England have come a long way under the guidance of the Italian, the West Ham defender insists no-one is getting carried away just yet.

“It is step by step. The team is progressing very well, you cannot deny that. However, as a team there is still a lot of things we can improve on,' he said.

"We are going to need to get better to be able to win the World Cup by beating some of the best teams in the world.

"We are on the right track, so it is a positive time at the moment.

"These results send a message that England are in good form tactically and have improved.

"The get-togethers are highly professional and disciplined, which is something which has really strengthened the team.”

derek.davis@eadt.co.uk