The Lions undergo altitude training

With seven of South Africa's World Cup stadiums, including the venue for the final, at altitude, Fabio Capello knows how important it will be for his players to be properly prepared. The Italian has already put them through their paces at the Altitude Centre in London, as well as taking advice from other teams that have recently toured South Africa, including England's cricketers.

Richard Pullan, who runs the Altitude Centre, one of the world leaders in its field, says that the players should not underestimate the effect that playing several thousand feet above sea level can have on an athlete. "Just talk to any sportsmen who have played on the high veldt, and they will describe how the thin air gave them a dry throat, made them breath differently and speeded up their heart rate."

England's players have undergone individual tests at the centre to see how well they cope with the effects of altitude and it was not necessarily the fittest players who coped best. "Very fit people tend to be those who can bring as much oxygen to their muscles as quickly as possible," Pullan said.

England's players will be able to prepare by training wearing special masks which put nitrogen into the air, reducing its oxygen content. The Lions used these masks when they toured South Africa in the summer. Capello might also choose to get his players sleeping in special altitude tents, which is what the Australian team will be doing.

Altitude also makes England's choice of team base a more important decision than usual. Earlier this week Capello checked on the progress being made building the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex near Rustenburg. Former England player Gary Mabbutt, who has been advising the World Cup organisers about their team bases,reported that "Any team with ambitions of winning the World Cup needs to be based at altitude."

Rustenburg is 4,920 ft above sea level, which is higher than every host city apart from Johannesburg, at 5,750 ft. All eight groups will feature games played at both sea level and altitude, as will the knock-out games. "Going from altitude to sea level is a benefit. Going the other way, the team would be absolutely shattered," added Mabbutt.