Group of Death can breathe life into England

When England failed to acquire seeding at the hands of a often-scrutinized Fifa ranking policy for next summer’s World Cup, fans and pundits sensed the opportunity to spread their panic earlier than usual.

In this case, the reason for panic centred around the fact that seeds would not be required to face each other in the early stages, meaning that if England had been seeded, they would likely avoid top opposition in their group.

Unfortunately, England’s worst fears were realised when the World Cup draw saw England selected amongst two previous winners of the tournament, and certainly two of the global form teams of the last decade, Italy and Uruguay.

Naturally, a friendly looking group suggests an easier passage to victory. We all know from experience that a good draw can benefit a team and has been responsible for under dogs progressing in major tournaments before.

When we look at England and the World Cup, however, we see a collection of agonies that are on their way to becoming recognized by The Royal Society as symptoms of England World Cup fever. Maybe it is time we started considering a tough draw as a good thing.

How many times have we watched England in a World Cup and felt like we never really got going?

Too often we have started at a walking pace in World Cup group stages. In 2010 England barely overcame USA, Slovenia and Algeria before a 4-1 thumping at the hands of Germany.

Guaranteed matches against Italy and Uruguay means that we cannot end this World Cup without truly knowing our place within the world footballing hierarchy. Fans will witness the big tests they have long craved.

I would make the point as well that such a challenging start can only stand England in good stead for the rest of the tournament. Reflecting again on 2010, starting slowly meant that the Germans, the first side of true quality that England met, were simply too good.

Maybe these fixtures will allow us to find a rhythm and sharpness that inferior opposition would not.

The group stage of the World Cup is the only round that can be considered a test. It would be possible for England to lose and still emerge from the group as winners, as Spain did four years ago.

The final encouragement to take is that if England progress, they will face one of four relatively innocuous sides from Group C. None of Colombia, Ivory Coast, Greece or Japan evoke the fear that a Mario Balotelli-led Italy or a Luis Suarez-inspired Uruguay do.

Whatever happens now, England fans can look forward to an exciting and hugely challenging beginning to the World Cup in 2014 – and one where simply progressing from their group could be a statement of intent on the world footballing stage.