Are you enjoying being back in England with Newcastle?

Yes. I knew what I was coming back to, I’ve played here for most of my career. I knew what I was missing when I was away. I said before I had a great time when I was in Spain the season I was there but even before I went I knew the Premiership is where I like playing.

How do you compare this England team with the one that played Argentina in 1998 and then in 2002?

I think the 1998 team was full of real experience and a lot of players it was their last big tournament. Then the next time we had a really inexperienced team and this one is in the middle of that.

I think we’ve got a bit of everything. Ability wise I think this team is a fantastic team when it is playing and functioning. I think it is a top team. They are all different but this is certainly a good team and it will be a good match, it always is against Argentina.

Do you think this team is now good enough to challenge teams from South America, whereas we’ve been knocked out by them in previous tournaments?

We have beaten them before as well. I’ve been in two World Cups and we’ve beaten Argentina, I think we’ve played Colombia. We played Brazil and Argentina and got knocked out but as I say we’ve beaten Argentina before.

Does that mean you don’t fear them?

Well I don’t! They are good teams, they are a good footballing continent - like Europe. They are probably the two strongest continents. It’s no coincidence that if you come unstuck it will be against a European side or a South American side, I don’t think there’s anything in that. It’s because they have got top teams and so have we.

How important is to prove a point against Argentina?

Well, I don’t think go out on the pitch trying to prove points or anything like that. It would be good for everything. When you win there are so many spin-offs. You gain confidence, the whole country is happy. You get a better send-off going to the World Cup, more expectation, more confidence.

Everything seems to roll into one when you win and likewise if you lose there are question marks here there and everywhere. Sure, it’s important to win but it’s not the be all and end all, it’s a friendly game. We want to win, it’s very important that we win and play well. Even the performances now are taking more importance coming into a World Cup.

Now we have qualified our performances are very important as well because you gain confidence collectively and individually from them. It’s an important game, we can gauge how we are doing against one of the other tournament favourites.

You’re playing well in the Premiership, are you ready to transfer that form into an England shirt?

There’s no reason why not. Nothing’s changed throughout my career. I don’t think I play better or worse in an England shirt than in my club shirt. I think some people probably play better at international level than at club level and visa-versa, but I think I’m quite steady.

Peter Crouch has had some unfair criticism and booing, do you think that fans don’t quite get what he brings to the team?

I think you’ve probably summed it up right. I don’t think people quite understand what he brings to the team.

I speak to Jamie Carragher, Didi Hamann, Steven Gerrard to name just three of my closest mates at Liverpool, I’ve trained with him many times and you speak to people who play with him, he is a very good player. It might surprise people when he does score a goal and gets on a run and gets confidence, maybe he’s lacking confidence and needs a goal.

He’s a lad that is maybe affected by criticism. For some people it’s water off a ducks back but for him just joining the England team and getting booed, I don’t think it’s going to help him.

There will be a lot of people that will be surprised when he does find the net and start playing really well but there will probably be just as many people, me included, who won’t be surprised in the slightest.

Liverpool have had some great strikers like Rush and Dalglish, there’s no reason why he can’t carry on the tradition?

Yes, but you can’t make comparisons. He’s a different type and the Premiership has changed over the years. I know what the manager would want, I spoke to him so I know what he was wanting when he bought Peter Crouch.

The Premiership has changed as well. He’s a type of player who can hurt certain defences away from home. And at home he brings you a different dimension.

The last few tournaments have come down to very small things, does this England team need to show more mental strength?

I think it’s a fact that if you are mentally strong as a team and individually it is important but I also try and look at it from other people’s point of view. I think to myself there’s only Brazil and Greece who have won anything. How do Spain feel? How do Italy feel? How do all these teams that are in that bracket with us feel?

They must be saying exactly the same things so I don’t think it’s right for us to think we have a deficiency because we have a lost a penalty shoot-out. I don’t really look at it like that.

But I think you’re right you have to be mentally strong with penalties and things like that. And especially with injuries to Wayne Rooney or a sending off.

Yes it’s heartbreak but what about Spain going out to their arch rivals in Portugal? We’re so involved in ourselves we think we are the only ones that exist, the only ones that can have this big disappointment and nobody else can feel as low as we feel. But there’s only one winner and that’s the way I try to look at it. I don’t think we’re so unlucky or we’re so this or so that.

People say Brazil are the favourites, do we think they are unbeatable?

I certainly don’t think they are unbeatable, no. Not at all. I have played Brazil a couple of times. We lost 2-1 and things could have been a lot different. And we drew at Wembley with them. I have certainly no fear about playing any top teams. Yes, they have some cracking players and you would say if you asked world opinion who would win they would come out on top for popularity.

But if we played against them we wouldn’t fear them at all. We’d respect them, they have the best attacking players in the world but we have some of the best centre-backs and defence in the world and if we can nullify their attacking players I would always fancy us scoring a goal against them.

If the England teams of '98, 2002 and this one competed in a three-way competition, which one would win?

If everyone plays to their maximum, then I think this one. We have such good players, the standard in training is unbelievable. If everyone is on song in any particular match then I wouldn’t be scared of anyone.

It’s so difficult as well because to get everyone playing well on the same day but that’s what you have to do to win a World Cup so we have to do it.

If you put the England players on the transfer market they’d be worth millions, why don’t we do better as team?

Well, some people play better in international football, some worse, some quite similar. We’ve shown that we can play well as a group, not as often as we would like but we have shown it.

The important thing for the manager and players and everyone else is to peak at the right time. That’s the challenge to everyone, we know that if we can peak in the seven games you need to win it then we have a great chance. But everyone is wanting the same thing, it’s all about how we play on the day.

Against Poland the team played with more tempo is that what we need?

If we can we go and play the English way but sometimes its foolish to go and do something that would hinder our chances of winning a game. As you know lots of teams realise they are not as good as certain other teams, and that’s in any league in the world.

If I was a manager of a team going to the league leaders then I would do whatever I could to make it difficult for them to beat us. That’s part of football and it’s about how to overcome it.

That’s been happening for years but everybody is a lot fitter now and more tactically aware and everything else, it’s more difficult to even beat the lower teams.

Can you play high-tempo football against the likes of Argentina or do you have to be different?

You have to see how they set themselves up but I think in general Argentina aren’t going to play against us and defend. That’s why it’s not a coincidence that there’s always good games when England play Germany, or Brazil or Argentina because you both fancy your chances and you both go for a win. It’s when a team know they are not as good as another team that you tend to get tactical horrible affairs that no-one enjoys watching or playing in.

If you compare the Real Madrid and England squads are there better players with England?

There’s more. There’s 22 players and every player is top notch. In Madrid we had the Galactico thing where we had five or six world beaters and then the rest of the lads were good hard working pros. But I would say the rest of the squad weren’t a patch on the team we’ve got here.

You’ve just had a meeting with The FA can you tell us about it?

There was no problems. We obviously don’t meet up every day. We have meetings whether it be with The FA or whatever. We had a chat before and everything is fine.

It was the first meeting we’ve had and it was an amicable meeting. You don’t sign the contract there and then.

Who was there? Campbell, Beckham, yourself obviously. Was Gary Neville there? Ferdinand?

Gary was there, yes. Rio? No.

Have you learned anything from Alan Shearer since teaming up with him at Newcsatle?

I wouldn’t say no. But we’ve both played many games and we both know what each other are about. It’s how he is as a person, he’s obviously in his final year. In terms of playing I knew his game anyway.

It’s great playing alongside him. You play with certain players but it’s always nice to play with a big, strong fearless player like Alan is. I’m sure he still worries defenders when they see his name on the teamsheet. It’s been really enjoyable. I’m loving my football at the minute.

He’s been doing it for so long hasn’t he?

That’s the mark of a proper player like Alan. He’s started young and he‘s never off form.. Even when he’s had an operation and missed about 15 games he still gone and scored 30 league goals which can never done again surely.

The way he’s kept his standards. His best years were at Blackburn and the first couple of years at Newcastle but you are never going to be in your peak for too long and considering he is probably out of his peak at the moment he’s still a top top player.

Does the fact that you think the England squad is stronger than Madrid‘s mean you disagree with people who say the Champions League is the top level you can play at? Do you think international sides could beat club sides?

It’s hard to make comparisons. You would love to see Chelsea play Enlgand or Madrid playing Spain one day but you are never going to get it. What I was saying is that there were some top, top players at Madrid that everyone knows about.

But there was eight, nine, 10 or 11 world class players there whereas in the England squad we have got players who are in that same league but when you get out of that first 10 or 11 then what you’ve got underneath this team is very, very strong as well.