The 2009/10 domestic season is swiftly giving away to the drama of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa which starts on June 11. Fabio's England team have been hard at work over the past two weeks. Here's a review of what has been going on.

On Monday, May 17, most of the England squad and entourage flew Virgin Atlantic out to Graz in Austria ahead of their two week pre-World Cup altitude training camp. After a short coach ride the team were located in the small Alpine village of Irdning at an altitude of 640 metres.

Staying at the main hotel and having the use of spectacular training facilities the squad could really look forward to some intense training sessions in quiet and attractive surroundings. Altitude training is vital for the players as their first group match is in Rustenberg which is at 1,100 meters above sea level. As Peter Crouch explained on the BBC: “We have all had advice as to what to expect at altitude and have been doing bike work in the gym fitted with masks which replicate conditions.”

During the first week players took part in two training sessions per day plus ad hoc gym work. The weather was mainly cool with some showers and the grass was in superb condition which all aided perfect preparation. Some of the players even had the chance to play golf on the Thursday afternoon.

On Saturday afternoon the squad left the resort and made their way back to London ahead of the friendly international against Mexico. Leading up to the match (on Monday, May 24) the biggest story in the media was concerning which 23 players will be going to South Africa and who will be staying at home. In the interest of this blog I made my way to Wembley to check out progress made. The stadium was decked out in a massive St George cross and the huge crowd were in great voice. It was an honour to share in such a moving experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

On the pitch Mexico produced a memorising display of skill, ball retention and pace but it was England that ran out deserved 3-1 winners. Post match, Capello explained: “We were very good on the counter attack and was pleased with the victory. However I wanted the players to press more and retain the ball better.”

Tuesday was a day of rest. The squad then regrouped on Wednesday, May 26 and retraced their steps back to Irdning for further training. With the Mexico performance fresh in minds and Japan coming up the squad took part in some sharp training session.

The question of which 23 still nagging away. As Stuart Mawhinney writer for the FA web site explained: “Everyone, Fabio included, has spoken of the difficulty in reducing 30 players to 23. But instead of fearing the day that seven players will be told the bad news, there has been a genuine freedom in the outlook and application of each and every person here with England.”

After a press conference on Saturday the group finally packed up and left their Alpine training ground for the last time and headed back to Graz for an overnight stop.

Once again, England seemed to struggle out of the blocks against nimble Japan and fell behind early on. However a strong response in the second half coupled with two own goals saw us through to a 2-1 win. There are still improvement needed but winning and not playing well is an excellent attribute for World Cup winners.

The team are now back in the UK ahead of that all important team selection. On Tuesday, June 1, Fabio will be announcing his 23 and they will all be flying out to Johannesburg on Wednesday via Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow.

World Cups can not be won on the training ground however with two weeks solid preparation and two wins under their belt the Irdning experience could well be the winning factor for Capello and his team.