Roy Hodgson is of the opinion that the England national team can learn from the mistakes made at the World Cup 2014 after they were knocked out of the group stages. This is the first time England have suffered this embarrassing exit since 1958. They managed to take only one point from three group matches and this included two defeats against Italy and Uruguay. Defending was a major concern in the World Cup with many criticising Hodgson’s decision not to take Chelsea defender John Terry to the tournament.

England boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Steven Gerrard has been taken off as a precaution, but the Liverpool midfielder should be fit for the opening match against Italy without a doubt. England have been one of the teams that have not been hit by a number of injury problems going into the World Cup 2014. However, the jinx appeared to hit them when Gerrard left the training very early on Monday. Along with Gerard, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the only other major injury worry. Hodgson has given his latest fitness updates for the national team ahead of the World Cup.

England national team boss Roy Hodgson has sent out his congratulations to his Dutch counterpart Louis van Gaal, who has been named as the next manager of Manchester United. The club have been conducting discussions with the 62-year-old ever since they parted company with David Moyes while some even have suggested that United have been talking with van Gaal even before Moyes was sacked. Either way, he will now lead the club into the new season hoping to be much more successful than his predecessor. He has already given out the firm objective of winning the title next campaign.

Roy Hodgson has dismissed suggestions that he would be returning to club football after the end of the World Cup 2014. The former Liverpool and West Brom manager was appointed as the England national team manager just ahead of the Euro 2012.

He managed to guide the team to relative success – considering that he had been appointed only a few months ago – in that competition. However, many feel that he is not the right manager for the national team ahead of the World Cup 2014. England are not even the favourites to qualify for the knockout stages after being given a tough group containing the likes of Italy and Uruguay.

Ryan Bertrand made his move to Aston Villa in January as he was transferred from Chelsea to Villa on a loan deal that will last until the end of the current campaign. His chances of playing with Jose Mourinho are being limited with Ashley Cole and Cezar Azpilicueta being the preferred players that Mourinho utilizes.

Even though England did not create much opportunities in the 1-0 win over Denmark, it was a positive outing for the national team. Manager Roy Hodgson decided to use a number of young players for this international friendly, which will be one of the last matches to test players ahead of the World Cup 2014.

Daniel Sturridge scored the only goal of the game and Southampton’s Adam Lallana helped create this goal. Liverpool’s Sterling was also one of the impressive players on the pitch. Such displays have meant that Hodgson will have a selection headache when he names his 30 man squad for the World Cup in a short time.

John Terry has retired from international football, but England have been struggling without him since then. As the World Cup approaches in the summer, England will be without two of the world's best defenders like John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, as both have decided to retire from international football.

The replacements have not been able to match the standards set by the partnership. Terry is still one of the leading players in the Premier league after rediscovering his form that made him one of the world's best under Jose Mourinho.

With the 2014 World Cup being 6 months away, Roy Hodgson as well as many other coaches have a tough task ahead of them. These next few months will be the most important for the head coach of England as he has to analyze and determine who to pick for his 23 man World Cup squad which has to be ready by June 2nd.

Roy Hodgson has managed some high profile clubs such as Inter Milan and Liverpool but none of them come close on having to be the main men behind a country, a nation as his decisions will be the decisive factor on who makes it into the team.

England has scheduled a friendly match which will be played on the 13th of May and this will be a perfect chance for Hodgson to dish out a provisional team prior to the World Cup itself.

England recently managed to secure qualification to the World Cup automatically after winning the group. The win over Poland meant that England will be finishing top of their group ahead of Ukraine.

After sealing qualification, manager Roy Hodgson said that fans should be confident of winning the World Cup after what they have seen in the last few qualifiers. England have managed to overcome the likes of Montenegro and Poland with relative ease. Manchester United's star striker Wayne Rooney has been performing in exceptional manner for the national team.

Wayne Rooney is aware of the fact that he hasn’t performed that well for England in big international competitions so far and he wants to improve that track record of his. He is quite determined to help the Three Lions achieve the glory in Brazil next year.

Rooney’s outings in the last couple of World Cups haven’t been impressive at all. He struggled in the previous edition of Euro Cup as well which was played last year, but, the form that he has shown in the World Cup qualifiers recently, it seems he is back to his peak and that’s definitely a great sign for England.