England boss Roy Hodgson believes the "hard work" for next summer's World Cup finals begins after Friday's draw in Brazil - but insists he fears no-one in the competition.
The Three Lions, who are in Pot 4 alongside Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and France, will learn their 2014 World Cup group stage opponents and venue destinations when the draw takes place in Costa do Sauipe on Friday afternoon.
With the potential of drawing top nations from the Americas such as Brazil, Argentina, USA, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and USA, African sides like Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast and even fellow Europeans in the shape of Spain and Germany, Hodgson is just keen to find out who his side will face.
“We respect everybody, we don’t fear anybody.”
Roy Hodgson England Manager
But he's also happy to admit that England won't fear playing anyone next year once the competition gets kicked-off.
"We respect everybody, we don’t fear anybody, as such," he said.
"Whatever group we get, we think it will be a tough one but we’re just happy to be there in a group and play whatever opponents the draw pulls out for us.
"There's certainly no trepidation, but satisfaction as well. It’s such a great achievement to be here – that was our goal, that was our aim and we had to work very hard in our group with ten tough qualification games.
"All along there was a carrot at the end of it that we were looking to enjoy – and that was of course being in the final tournament.
"So this really just brings it all home and all the hard work has led to this so we can’t wait now to see who we get."
Hodgson and his staff will begin to tailor their preparations for next summer's showpiece event straight after the draw and he insists his side will be as well-prepared as possible.
He added: "I was at the draw all those years ago in America [when manager of Switzerland] and it was a fantastic occasion.
Hodgson celebrates securing World Cup qualification.
"There were all-sorts of stars helping out with the draw, you just sit there and wait to see what you're going to get.
"When you've been allotted a group with the teams and the places you're going to play, that's when the hard work begins with all the preparation.
"With the people around me at The FA, I'm sure there will be no problems with that. We'll be as well-prepared as a team possibly can be."
Hodgson insists he's had his eyes firmly on Brazil ever since the qualification process began in September 2012 and ended with the memorable double-header victories against Montenegro and Poland in October.
With that final win over Poland at Wembley still fresh in the memory, Hodgson says he's been waiting for this draw ever since.
"I've been pretty excited all along," admits Hodgson.
"The only time I've really been worried or fazed was before we played Poland at Wembley, when we knew we had to win that game in order to get here.
"From that moment on, when I knew that we had achieved our goal, it's really been excitement all the way along."
