England captain Steven Gerrard has dismissed any talk of a fear factor and says he and his teammates must go into each World Cup game believing they will win.
The Three Lions left Miami after their warm-up games against Ecuador and Honduras and travelled overnight to their base in Rio de Janeiro – where they will remain until travelling to Manaus to take on Italy in their opening Group D game on Saturday.
The last time the pair met at a major tournament the 2006 World Cup champions knocked England out of Euro 2012 on penalties at the quarter-final stage, but this time round Gerrard insists there can be nothing to fear, or become complacent over - as the clock ticks down on one of the most eagerly anticipated World Cups in decades.
England v Italy
FIFA World Cup Group D
11pm, Saturday 14 June
Arena Amazônia, Manaus
Live on BBC1 from 10.20pm
He said: “If you go into games against these teams and fear them and you show them too much respect of course it will allow for a complex, but for me you judge the game once it's started, you don’t think about the Italian form leading into this game.
“We can beat this team but we certainly won't under-estimate them because they have world-class players and we know any country that plays against England always raises their game.
“They want to beat us because we have the best league in the world. They watch it and they will be desperate to beat us.”
And on the Euro 2012 defeat in Kiev, Gerrard said it was a night where England gave their all and were devastated to come up short, but added that he feels the overall dynamic of the squad is far healthier than this time two years ago.
“I think we prepared for Euro 2012,” he added. “We ran our socks off, worked as hard as we could. I do feel this squad is better, the standard from 11-23 has improved, we have better impact players this time around, and that gives me more confidence going into this game.”
Italy triumphed on penalties the last time the two nations met at a major tournament
With so much emphasis placed on getting off to a positive start in major tournaments, the Liverpool man also said that with games against Uruguay and Costa Rica to follow – the squad must not panic if they do not manage to obtain maximum points in Manaus.
“A win is better, you get three points, so you are never going to go into the game trying to get a draw,” he admitted.
“You always reach for the stars, we go in there trying to get the three points. If we fall short and end up with a 0-0 draw it's not the end of the world.
“It's an OK result but it's not the result we want because if we get three points in that first game we are in the driving seat in the group.
“That's why you are never prepared to go into a game for the draw. It would be very disrespectful to this group of players if you are asking them to only go in for a point.”
England kick-off their World Cup campaign against Italy at 11pm UK time on Saturday 14 June.
The game will be screened live on BBC1. Coverage starts at 10.20pm.
