David Seaman has insisted that England have "the quality to go all the way" at this summer's World Cup.
For the first time in a number of years, the weight of expectation from both supporters and the media on the Three Lions as they head into a major tournament is low.
Yet, providing that they are fortunate with the draw for the knockout stages, assuming that they qualify through a group that contains Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica, former England goalkeeper Seaman has told Sports Mole that Roy Hodgson's men can make a positive impact in Brazil.
"Success is getting to the World Cup and we are there in the finals. Qualifying from the group is a must, but after that you don't know what you're going to get. You don't know what bad luck you're going to get and you don't know what good luck you're going to get," said the 50-year-old.
"We must qualify, then let's see how we are playing. If we are playing really well at the time, who knows what could happen? We've got the quality to go all the way, but it's can they all reach peak performance at the same time?"
While Hodgson has included the likes of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, all of whom have over a decade of senior international experience to call upon, 17 of the 23 that are bound for South America have never previously travelled to a World Cup.
Consequently, question marks have been raised as to the squad's ability to adapt to the tournament environment, where players are often confined to spending the majority of their days in hotel rooms and on various modes of transportation.
However, Seaman, a veteran of two World Cups during which he made nine appearances, believes that the younger members of the squad will find plenty to occupy their spare time.
"It's hard because you're stuck in a hotel. It can be so boring. It sounds weird, but you're stuck in your room or hotel because you can't go out because there are thousands of people waiting for your photograph. Wherever you go, you've got to have a police escort - it's really strange. All you want to do is go and play football or maybe have a game of golf, something like that," added the ex-Arsenal keeper.
"In our hotel, we had a games room. They were brilliant because you could play snooker, darts and things like that, which was a real bonus. You get so much time to waste because you've got to rest as well. It's a fine balance between the training and being ready for games, which means you need to relax. The relaxation is the boredom side of it and it can be hard, but you're in a World Cup after all.
"They will adapt because they are youngsters. When I was involved, the youngsters always seemed to have stuff to do and are whizzes on their computers and things like that. When you get out there, it's great, despite getting bored. I love the mixture that Roy Hodgson has got with the experienced and younger players. It's a perfect mixture."
David Seaman and top female freestyler Laura Biondo are working with Mini Babybel this summer, offering people the chance to win one of 15,000 free mini-footballs through their exciting on-pack promotion. Former England international David is encouraging families to get out and play football and be inspired by the skills demonstrated by Laura in the latest Babybel video. For more information visit www.babybel.co.uk.
