Manchester (England): Defender Rio Ferdinand says England have the players to achieve World Cup success even if injured striker Wayne Rooney misses the finals.
Rooney's broken foot has dominated England's preparations for Germany and cast doubts on their chances of lifting the trophy for the first time since 1966.
Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, Ferdinand's team mates and the rest of the footballing nation are waiting for a scan Rooney will undergo on June 7 to see if he has a chance of playing any part in the tournament.
"At the moment, everyone is harping on about Wazza," Ferdinand said on Monday, referring to Rooney.
"In some respects rightly so because he's a fantastic player and an asset to the squad on and off the pitch."
But he added: "We feel as a squad, looking around the training field and the changing room, that we've got players who are more than capable of coming in and doing a fantastic job for the side. We definitely feel that."
Eriksson made it clear on Monday he was becoming fed up with the media circus surrounding Rooney's injury, though Ferdinand was more understanding.
"Wayne Rooney's a massive player and a massive story," said the Manchester United central defender, who should start at Old Trafford in Tuesday's friendly against Hungary.
"We know as players that that's going to be in the news and we respect that. But as a squad, it doesn't make us feel any less as players individually or collectively.
"When you look at this squad in detail, in terms of match winners, it has more than any I've been involved in before. We've got players who can drag a game by the scruff of the neck and win it for you at any time from normal play or a dead-ball situation.
"With Wayne that will be one extra, but without Wayne there's enough in there to do that."
Asked to name names, Ferdinand's first thought was Liverpool's talismanic captain Steven Gerrard, who scored two goals in their FA Cup final triumph over West Ham United earlier this month.
Steven Gerrard says, "I was at the Cup final and it was great to see it was an Englishman who did it and that he's going to be in my squad when I go to the World Cup.
"Frank Lampard, 20 goals as a midfielder, you can't ask for much more, David Beckham and I haven't got to the forwards yet. Michael Owen - goalscorer, Joe Cole and Peter Crouch can score."
England will certainly need goals without Rooney as the 20-year-old striker is set to miss at least the Group B games, which start on June 10 against Paraguay.
United added to the worries of England fans on Monday by saying that Rooney's broken metatarsal involved the joint - "an injury which takes longer to heal."
Asked if the squad were reconciling themselves to Rooney missing the World Cup, Ferdinand said: "As a team we've just got confidence in the other players in the side.
"Wazza would be a great asset to any team in the world, we know that as individuals and as a team. We've got to wait on a medical decision. If he's going to be fit, he's going to be fit.
"But we've got to prepare the squad to know that if he doesn't come, we're more than capable of going out there and doing a job for the country."
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