First of all, let me start this blog by saying that England will NOT win the World Cup in Brazil this summer. I would stake my life savings on it. Not that that would mean too much. The defence is a cause for concern, there are more questions about the midfield than answers, and they will be up against some very good, and some excellent, teams who have qualified for this tournament.

That said, we do have two reasons to be quietly optimistic of our chances of not crashing out with a feeble miaow, instead of the mighty Lions roar that the country would prefer. Those two reasons are our undoubted main strikers for the World Cup, Daniel Sturridge and Wayne Rooney.

It is only February, and God knows (England knows) there is a lot of time for injuries, loss of form, tabloid-exposés and any number of excuses there have been down the years. But for the first time since I can remember, England have a couple of forwards who are capable of scoring against any team on any day. People may point to 2002 when we had five strikers in what you would call 'good form' (Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Emile Heskey, Darius Vassell, and Teddy Sheringham), but out of those, only Owen was what you would truly call a top forward.

Some concerns arise about these two however; while Sturridge may be capable of scoring against anyone, the worry has to be the team behind him. The Liverpool striker has had such a good season so far because he is in a team capable of creating a phenomenal amount of chances for him in most games. I would argue Hodgson would be wise to start Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard in the midfield for the maximum amount of familiarity for Sturridge to work with.

Rooney's case on the other hand is not about the team supplying him, but rather himself: before he became injured earlier on in the season he was the only bright spark in a team devoid of invention or belief. The superb goal against Crystal Palace at the weekend was a demonstration of what Rooney can do when he has a clear mind and is focused on helping the team. While he may not have been scoring for fun like Sturridge, at least with his contract sorted and future clear, we may see him realise his maximum potential on the world stage.

If Roy Hodgson finds a way to focus the teams' service to Sturridge, he should notch a couple of goals in Brazil. The striker is such a natural finisher it seems ludicrous that people ever wrote off his chances of making it as a top-level striker. If Rooney remains uninjured and committed to the team, he should manage to get on the scoresheet as well. 

Let me be frank once again: England will NOT win the World Cup this year. But with Rooney and Sturridge firing, they may just make us look respectable, and not like the has-beens of World football we are painted as at the moment.

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