A notable and very encouraging statistic that all England fans can take pride in is the goal tally that Capello’s team notched up while qualifying from Group 6. In fact, the path to South Africa’s Group C was a real goalfest. In the 10 games that they played England slotted in 34 goals and that was more than any other European team in the competition. That bodes well for their chances of finding the back of the net in the next phase of the competition and making it through to the final stages.

The leading scorer as things stand now is Wayne Rooney, who blasted in 9 goals in 9 games in the qualifiers. Other prolific net-finders were Frank Lampard who contributed with 4 goals and Peter Crouch who managed to find the net 4 times despite making only 4 appearances in an England shirt. Steven Gerrard scored three times too so the firepower is definitely there. The World Cup betting sites make Rooney the overwhelming favourite to score the most goals for England with odds of 6/4, while Frank Lampard is quoted at 5/1.

Now that England are playing against outfits like the USA, Slovenia and Algeria, it would be foolish to think that the goals are going to come quite as easily as they did against the likes of Andorra and Kazakhstan. Nevertheless the statistics do show that Capello’s team can seize their goal chances when they come along.

Of course all the players have some way to go before they overhaul Bobby Charlton’s 49 goal record while playing in an England shirt. But there is no denying that Rooney’s prolific goalscoring for England and his 26 goal tally in 32 Premier league games this season show what he is capable of. When you look at the fact that he is only 24 there is every chance that he may one day become England’s all-time top goalscorer.

In my mind there is no doubt that Rooney must be considered a candidate for the World Cup’s Golden Boot award if he can repeat his scintillating League form in South Africa. Among the betting fraternity there is some support for Rooney’s chances of him becoming the top goalscorer of the 2010 World Cup with online betting sites offering tasty odds of 12/1 that he will do it. Even though he will be up against brilliant strikers like Spain’s David Villa, Brazil’s Luis Fabiano and Argentina’s Lionel Messi he must be in with more than a chance there.

Capello’s strongest playing card is the strength of the England forward line and what England fans must be hoping for is that he can match that strength in the other areas of the team.