'England Morale High Despite Rio Loss'

[John]

He was speaking after a chat with coach Fabio Capello and senior members of the squad in South Africa via a video link.

The prince, who is president of the Football Association, spoke to Capello, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney for 15 minutes during a visit to its offices at Wembley.

He will travel to the World Cup with his brother Harry to watch England take on Algeria in Cape Town and promote the FA's bid to host the tournament in 2018.

William, an ambassador for the 2018 bid, said: "All the staff at Wembley and the players and management in South Africa are working so hard to make this a successful year for English football.

"It could be a year of amazing achievement, on and off the field - we could win both the World Cup in South Africa and the World Cup vote in Zurich.

"It will certainly be tough but both are do-able. Despite Rio Ferdinand's injury, which is a disappointment for Rio himself and the England team, morale in the team is high.

"Winning both the World Cup and the bid would be a huge boost to the whole country - and the whole country is behind them."

The football stars had just had lunch when they gathered in a room at their hotel in Rustenburg to speak to William.

The 27-year-old asked the how they were settling in and what their feelings were ahead of the tournament, which kicks off this Friday.

The discussion came just a few hours after Ferdinand hurt his knee during a training session.

He has been ruled out for six weeks and has already been replaced by Tottenham defender Michael Dawson.

Uncapped Dawson, 26, joined the England squad on Saturday morning after catching an overnight flight to Johannesburg.

England play their first game against the USA next Saturday, June 15.

[Black Widow]

USA will have that if england play like they did against Japan