“One of our plans this time is to make certain we do a lot more attacking and that Italy find themselves wondering what they’re going to do about people like Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney.
“How are we going to stop Pirlo? What we’re going to do first of all is we’re going to play better against Italy this time than we did then.
“Because, of the four matches we played, the Italy game, if you take our overall performance, was actually our worst performance as a team, and all the players would agree with me. We didn’t think we’d played anywhere near as well as we could play."
The England boss said: “What are we going to do this time against Pirlo? First, we’ll play a lot better, we’ll play with more energy because we’ll have more energy because it will be the first game in the tournament. We’ll be even more compact than we were in that game.
“We’re going to make certain also that Italy have a lot more to concern themselves with with our attacking play, because one of the problems we had in that game is that we weren’t functioning well as an attacking unit. So Italy had too much of the ball and we were doing too much defending."
9:41 am
No Yaya mishaps in the Netherlands camp:
9:20 am
David McDonnell
Scolari, whose ill-fated spell at Chelsea lasted just over seven months, ending with his sacking in February 2009 after a poor run of results, added: "Brazil occupies a large part [of my heart] as do my Italian roots, which are very important.
"But Portugal is different. It's much more than a place where I worked and felt at ease.
"I made some very dear friends there. When my elder son graduated, hw was chosen as the best student at the university where he studied law and he got married there.
"This means I have family in Portugal and a big part of me, my wife Olga and my younger son Fabricio is there."
8:50 am
David McDonnell
Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari says the "perfect" World Cup final would be between his host side and Portugal.
Former Chelsea boss Scolari managed Portugal from 2003 to 2008, guiding them to the Euro 2004 final, where they were shock losers to Greece.
Scolari also took Portugal to the World Cup semi-finals in 2006 and the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, and retains a great affinity with the country.
That is why the 65-year-old, who led Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002 and is in his second spell in charge of the five-times winners, would love to face Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates in the final in Rio on July 13.
"It's the perfect final," said Scolari. "Whoever's better prepared, whoever plays better, may the better team win!
"Why? Because it's where I created lifelong ties, where I have got great friends and where I experienced some of the greatest moments of my life.
"Also, because there are at least nine players in the Portuguese national team from my time as trainer, although some have criticised me for for not introducing new players."
8:47 am
Good morning, world. The sun is shining in London and the birds are chirping in the trees.
Even they know what's happening in two days. Yes, after weeks and months and years of build-up, the World Cup gets underway on Thursday.
**Passes out**
...
**Regains consciousness**
Where was I? Oh yes, football's biggest party. It's nearly here. Our reporters are in Brazil, champing at the bit to bring you the latest news from the England camp and plenty more besides.
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