Darren Anderton knows a thing or two about the pressures of playing for England at a major tournament.
The Tottenham legend was a key figure of the Three Lions' side which reached the semi-finals of Euro 96 on home soil, before he was selected as part of Glenn Hoddle's squad for the World Cup finals in France 98.
Anderton scored one of the all-important goals against Colombia to send England through to the knockout stages in the latter tournament, along with David Beckham, before their elimination at the hands of Argentina where his team-mate was infamously sent off.
Now living Stateside, Anderton has been eagerly-awaiting the World Cup in Qatar, with a particular focus on his country going toe-to-toe with his adopted home in Friday's clash - and feels England have all the necessary ingredients to go far in the tournament.
Speaking to Mirror Football on behalf of homeless charity Shelter ahead of Friday's group match, Anderton said: "I’m pretty confident. It will be interesting to see how USA will play, I think they’ll be very positive in closing us down – they’re an energetic, young team and they’ll try and make it very difficult for us.
"The reality is if we play as we can we’ll win the game. Iran pressed us up the pitch and tried to stop us doing what we’re good at, but I think that actually played into our hands.
"The quality we have within the team, the players are very comfortable in receiving the ball under pressure and to break the lines, getting into those attacking areas – the players we have in those positions will always create opportunities."
While England already have three points on the board from their impressive 6-2 thrashing of Iran, USA will be keen to pick up their first victory after letting their lead slip to a late penalty in their 1-1 draw vs Wales, though taking anything from the game is the bare minimum.
"The USA will be desperate not to get beat knowing that they play Iran in the final game and they’ll hope they get the right result there," Anderton continued. "It will be pretty cagey, I think, for both teams. If we get a point we can be confident about going though, but of course we’ll be looking to win the game and qualify at the first opportunity."
Anderton revealed he had a number of guests coming over - supporters of both England and USA - to watch the game. " The game’s on at 11am over here so we’ll have a couple of early drinks and make some Shepherd’s Pie for half time… I’ll make sure it’s all very English!"
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England's current crop are one of the most exciting groups of players the country has seen at a World Cup in recent years. It was a similar situation when Anderton featured in '98, with the likes of Beckham and a teenage Michael Owen "ripping Argentina to shreds", only for it to end in heartache.
Looking back on the tournament, Anderton said: "It was a dream come true to play. We played some fantastic games – of course, for me to score is something that will live with me for ever, it’s what you dream of.
"We had such a good team, and being in France made the matches feel like home games, particularly in the group stages. The stadiums were full of English fans, it was amazing."
While Anderton and co. were unlucky to fall short after losing to Argentina on penalties in the last 16, he feels this England side can go well beyond what that side achieved - and potentially end the long, agonising wait for silverware.
"We can win it, no doubt about it," he insisted. "France were different class, they had to react to going a goal down but the quality they have is frightening. They’ll be favourites along with Brazil. Watching England going forward and trying to score more goals was exciting.
"We saw Germany being so sloppy, passing the ball for fun instead of putting the game to bed. Argentina did the same thing – no purpose. That’s what excited me about England, players wanting to go on and score goals, and create opportunities.
"We have a real opportunity. We’re a tournament team now – the last World Cup and the Euros showed that. We get the required result even when not playing that well at times. You can’t keep a high level through a whole tournament, you have to be able to win ugly and I believe we can do that."
Anderton did admit England's defensive capabilities were a concern, after conceding two sloppy goals against Iran that took the shine off what was an otherwise flawless performance. "My worry, along with everyone else, is defensively how we’re going to cope with the very best," he added. "We’ll have to do better than we did against Iran, we weren’t great at the back when they came and had a go at us."
While it's been 24 years since Anderton pulled on an England jersey at France '98, he now has the chance to don that classic kit again in Christmas jumper form. The Three Lions legend has teamed up with charity Shelter to raise awareness of homelessness this winter, as part of their #NoHomeKit campaign.
"I love that kit! I’m always buzzing when I see that shirt, scoring in the World Cup is my greatest memory in football," he said. "It’s lovely to see that iconic shirt used for something like this, it put a massive smile on my face – I got some for the whole family!"
With this being the first winter World Cup leading straight into Christmas, it can be easy to overlook the issues of those less fortunate at this time of year. Anderton said: "That time of year, for me, is such a happy time – but there’s so much unhappiness and people struggling every year. This year is going to be worse than ever.
"To have the jumper be associated with the cause and try and make people aware is really important. I’m very appreciative of the life that football gave me, and I feel that football and everything it has should be used in this way.
He added: "When you see the statistics – a game is 90 minutes, and it that time 25 households will be homeless – it’s unbearable to think about. I think that everyone should think about it, and anything that can be done to make people aware and hopefully help do something about it I’m delighted to be a part of."
Buy the World Cup '98 away kit Christmas jumper here, with money from every jumper sold going to Shelter.
Or to donate directly to Shelter, visit this website.
