Hopes, dreams, glory, honour... these are some of the hyperbolic夸張的 terms likely to be thrown around over the next month as England plunges 投身于 into the excitement of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Many sociologists have noted the increasing importance of football to England's national self-image 自我民族形象。Unlike the USA, England is not a country where you routinely see the national flag fluttering 飄揚(yáng)著 on cars or outside people's houses. But for the past 15 years, international matches have provided an outlet 釋放（點(diǎn)）for the country's latent 潛在的 patriotism.

So from June 12, when England play their opening match against the USA, players can expect every move they make on and off the pitch to come under microscopic scrutiny 嚴(yán)密的審視 from the British press. Will they be able to take the pressure?

More importantly, will they be able to replicate 重復(fù)/復(fù)制 England's World Cup victory of 1966?

This event was etched 銘記 into the English collective memory by Kenneth Wolstenholme's famous piece of commentary over the closing seconds of injury time in the final. Some people invaded the pitch 沖入球場(chǎng) just as Geoff Hurst thumped in 猛入一球 the goal that put England 4-2 ahead of West Germany. 'They think it's all over' is undoubtedly the most famous sporting line in British English and is now a common phrase in the language.

The closest England have come to holding the golden trophy since then was in 1990, when they lost on penalties to their old rivals West Germany in the semi-final. In 2002 and 2006 England got as far as the quarter-finals before being knocked out.

England's captain Rio Ferdinand has indicated that this is not good enough for him. "We only really do our job and do ourselves justice 體現(xiàn)真實(shí)水平 by winning the tournament. No-one gets remembered for finishing in the semi-finals or the quarter-finals."

It's a sentiment shared by England's coach Fabio Capello. He has established himself as a tough disciplinarian 鐵面無情的人, stripping 革職 Terry of his captaincy following allegations about the star's private life.

Capello's team has built up some momentum 高潮 in the qualifying matches, winning nine out of their ten games and becoming the top goal-scorers in Europe. Despite this, there is a recognition that they will have to up their game 強(qiáng)化球技 to overcome favourites Spain, who recently went on an unbeaten run 連勝不敗的紀(jì)錄 of 35 games, or Brazil, who have won the contest five times, or Argentina, who boast arguably the world's best player in Lionel Messi.

So England are not what Ferdinand refers to as "the finished article" but he thinks this actually bodes well for 預(yù)示有好兆頭 them, since it means that no-one is feeling over-confident or complacent 自滿的。

He should know. This is Ferdinand's fourth call-up 應(yīng)召 for a World Cup so the defender is not short of experience, or indeed luck. As he said, "You dream about going to one World Cup as a kid, let alone 何況 four".