Hargreaves still has World Cup shot – Capello

England manager Fabio Capello is adamant there is still enough time for Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves to earn a place in next year’s squad for the World Cup in South Africa.

The 28-year-old Hargreaves, who unusually for an England player is at home with the role of a defensive midfielder, has been out of action for nearly 15 months after undergoing surgery on both knees to cure a tendinitis problem.

But the former Bayern Munich player is on the brink of returning to full training and Capello, asked about Hargreaves’s possible inclusion in his 23-man World Cup squad, said Tuesday: “Why not? He can because he has time to recover everything. He has to play. Players who do not play will not be with me.”

The Italian, speaking at the unveiling of north London club Barnet’s new training facilities, added: “I spoke to him two months ago, I met him in Manchester and he was just ready to start training. But now he is not fit.

“He has six months to recover his good form but he needs to play. I will choose players that will be fit in May, the players that play all the games.”

Hargreaves was one of England’s best players at the 2006 World Cup in Germany but hasn’t played for his country for two seasons with Gareth Barry becoming Capello’s defensive midfielder of choice.

Capello added he “more or less” knew who would be in his World Cup squad, provided injuries didn’t disrupt his plans.

“More or less, I know all the players. I follow the players and check on them but we have to wait.

“When I decide the 23 players that will stay with me, I hope the best players will be fit. This is the reason why I have to follow more players.”

England will be based for the World Cup in Rustenburg after Capello received assurances about the state of the training pitches there.

“The facilities are okay, there were some problems with the pitches but I spoke to people there and they will be okay for June when we are in South Africa,” he said.

“We found Rustenburg was the best place for us. It is quiet, good for security, is close to the stadium where we play the first game – everything is okay,” Capello insisted.

As part of England’s World Cup build-up, Capello wants the team to play Egypt at Wembley in early March and then arrange a friendly with Mexico.

“We have to decide. We are speaking with these countries but have not decided yet,” Capello said.

“I think we will play March 3 at Wembley, against Egypt, then we have to find the date to play against Mexico. There are some problems, I don’t know if we will play Sunday or Monday.

“All the friendly games we played were against European teams and we know the style of these teams. We have to play against South Americans and African teams with a different style.”

England have won the World Cup just once, when they hosted the tournament back in 1966.