Hodgson to scout 2014 Brazil World Cup training bases

Tuesday, 29th May 2012 at 11:07am

New England coach Roy Hodgson will travel to Brazil after Euro 2012 to check out three potential training camps for his England squad should they qualify for the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

Any mention of planning for Brazil World Cup will have surely raised some eyebrows among the discerning voices that were unhappy about his appointment as England haven't even left for their training base in Krakow, Poland yet.

But given the relative lack of time afforded to Hodgson to prepare for Euro 2012, the 64-year-old feels it is prudent to prepare for the future as soon as possible.

"I am looking beyond the Euros,'' he said. "The fact is I signed a contract to do this job over the coming years [up to and including the 2014 World Cup], so I have my sights firmly fixed on the future.

"I also want to do well in the Euros with the team and I will try to get the team as well-organised and well-prepared as I can. But I am not prepared to make the Euros the be-all and end-all.''

Should England qualify for Brazil 2014, the FA will no longer look to base the squad in Santos which had been their initial idea.

The understanding now is that Rio de Janeiro is the destination of choice for English football's governing body.

Fifa have given all nations participating in qualifying a deadline of August 1 to submit their top three choices for training bases, with England also thought to highly rate Belo Horizonte.

Santos and Sao Paulo were ruled out for accommodation and weather issues respectively.

Hodgson will travel to Brazil with Adrian Bevington, MD of Club England, England team doctor Ian Beasley and Michelle Farrer, director of team operations.

The last time the World Cup was held in Brazil, England failed to progress beyond the group stages. The Three Lions beat Chile but slumped to losses against Spain and the USA, the latter of which was made into a film known as The Miracle Match.

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