After winning England's second major trophy, I was called upon to emulate Sir Alf Ramsey's achievement of winning the World Cup, which would be held in Germany. We were drawn into a group that featured Faroe Islands, Portugal, Slovenia, Albania and Greece. It wasn't a tough group and I was expected to qualify easily. The only challenge would come from Portugal.

The first match of the qualifiers was against Faroe Islands. 2 goals from Joe Cole and one from Owen gave us a 3-1 win over the Islanders. Next up, we hosted Portugal at Wembley. 90,000 spectators turned up for the match which would decide who would be automatically qualified and who would have to go through the playoffs. I would have to contend with a few players who had been playing in the English league and knew all about my tactics. But we drew first blood in the 14th minute. Alan Smith dribbled into the heart of their defence before sending the ball towards Michael Carrick. GOAL! And for the next half an hour, both sides concentrated their play in the midfield. The start of the second half saw us coming out stronger. But it was Portugal that had the most chances at goal and were it not for the brilliant performance by Richard Wright, we would be a couple of goals behind. In the 56th minute, Owen sent in a cross for the unmarked Beckham. GOAL! The outcome of the match has been determined. Joe Cole put icing on the cake when he made his way past the defence before curling an unstoppable shot past the hands of Hugo Tavares. GOAL! Final score, England beat Portugal 3-0.[ScreenShot]

Our next encounter was against Albania at Tirana. It was a disastrous trip as the pitch conditions were unfit for a match of this magnitude. However we had to comply with UEFA's rule. The strikers wasted a sackful of chances before Owen scored in the 72nd minute but it wasn't enough to overcome the Albanians. We drew 1-1 with them. We had Greece at Wembley up next and their stout defending failed to keep them alive. 3 first half goals were enough to send them home without a point. The goals were scored by Owen (2) and Beckham.

I was given a chance at beating Italy who handed me a 4-3 defeat a few years back. It was also my only defeat as the England manager. The match was held at Wembley and 64,000 spectators gathered there for the match. We had a good start and were soon controlling the match from the midfield. Unfortunately, the strikers failed to turn possession into goals and were kept at bay by the stout Italian defence made up of Paolo Negro, Paolo Vanoli, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta. It would all change in the 39th minute when Joe Cole threaded a pass towards Alan Smith. Smith then found Beckham free just outside the area. GOAL! Wonderful goal scored by Beckham from outside the box. Italy equalised just 9 minutes into the second half when Filippo Inzaghi headed in a cross by Jonatan Binotto. Within 10 minutes, we were ahead again after the referee awarded us with a penalty. Michael Carrick took the kick and sent the keeper the wrong way to score. GOAL! It would turned out to be the winning goal as England beat Italy 2-1.[ScreenShot]

The match against Slovenia in the World Cup Qualifiers was a tough match despite having home ground advantage. The stubborn Slovenian defence managed to hold us up for the first 45 minutes. It would all change in the second half as Owen and Joe Cole scored at the start and at the end of the second half to give us a 2-0 win. Faroe Islands were next and they were sent packing when Rio Ferdinand gave us a second minute lead before Owne wrapped things up with 2 more goals in the first half. Thereby equaling and breaking Alan Shearer's 30 goals for England. We played out the whoel second half with just 10 men after Carrick was sent off. Owen completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute before the Islanders pulled one back through Christian Jacobsen.

Next up was a friendly against the Czech Republic. I fielded a team with a couple of new faces to give them more exposure. The match turned out to be a fast and furious one when Vratislav Lokvenc got himself sent off after just 4 minutes. Ales Majer was the hero for his side when he scored 2 goals to give them a 2-0 lead but England equalised through Darren Eadie and Kevin Phillips.

Back to the Qualifiers, Portugal entertained us at home and we came away with a 1-0 win courtesy of Owen who scored on the hour. The win gave us the ticket to Germany as we won the group with 3 more matches to be played. For the summer of 2005, England was selected to play in the Confederations Cup, which was held in Germany. The story would be in another section.

England completed their group with wins over Albania (3-0), Greece (2-0) and Slovenia (2-1). Owen scored in all 3 matches, scoring his 40th goal for England against Greece. Odds were now placed on him to break Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for England. Surprisingly, Greece (Q) finished second, piping Portugal for the Playoffs spot. The other teams that qualified for the Playoffs included Italy (Q), Spain (Q), Czech Republic, Scotland, Austria, Turkey (Q) and Switzerland.

Another 3 friendly matches were lined up for us before the start of the World Cup. And it wasn't surprising to see that 2 of them were against Croatia. We defeated them with an identical scoreline of 2-1. The next friendly was against Italy at Wembley. 64,000 turned up for the match against a team, which had to qualify for the World Cup via the playoffs. The match soon turned out to be a morale booster for my team. Joe Cole started the ball rolling when he placed a 20-yard free kick past the outstretched hands of Buffon in the 19th minute. GOAL! 2 minutes before the end of the first half saw Beattie capping off a wonderful team move by scoring. GOAL! The second half started in the same fashion as the first. It took Greening only 2 minutes to place the ball into the back of the net after a flick from Beattie put him through towards goal. England's victory wouldn't be complete if there wasn't a customary goal from Owen. Owen who had a strike rate of a goal per match scored England's fourth in the 72nd minute after some nice footwork by Beattie. GOAL! Italy had no reply against our relentless attacks and the match ended 4-0 in our favour.[ScreenShot]

We were soon instilled as joint fourth favourites to win the World Cup, behind Holland, France, Argentina and tied together with Brazil and Italy. Naturally, the English FA wanted me to qualify for the Quarterfinals. I was left with the choice of choosing 22 players for the competition. They were : Richard Wright, Sean Allaway, Matthew Upson, Chris Morgan, Rio Ferdinand, Jonathan Woodgate, David Livermore, Clint Hill, Michael Clegg, Jamie Carragher, John Spicer, Joe Cole, Matthew Etherington, Tommy Smith, Michael Carrick, David Beckham, David Noble, Michael Owen, James Beattie, Omer Riza and Alan Smith.