Joe Cole – Why all the pressure? It's only a game!

The Chelsea striker Joe Cole has revealed his secret as to why he finally made it into Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad, simply by relaxing and accepting that it is only a game!

He said: “You’ve got to put football into perspective otherwise it will drive you mad because there is so much importance put on it. At the end of the day it is only a game of football.

“Constantly you have to have that perspective as a footballer because there is so much pressure and importance put on whether you win a game of football. I find it is good as a person to do that a lot.

“What will be will be, but the main thing is it will be great for the country and the people to have a great World Cup and go and win it.”

His comments came before he was chosen to go to South Africa, and he revealed that he couldn’t affect Capello’s decision, so why get stressed about it? “What will I do on Tuesday?” he said. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in this position. I don’t know. It is a funny atmosphere. There is nothing you can do.

“We’ve done everything we can do, we’ve trained hard, everyone has had an excellent week’s training and that’s all you can do. I’ll wake up on Tuesday, have my breakfast and there we go.
Nerves

“Do I have any nerves? You’ve got to be pragmatic about it. I came here 10 days ago to try and enjoy my time back here, train well, and it’s in the manager’s hands about the squad.

“There are a lot of players who will be hoping; a lot of players have got a good case. But, whatever happens, we are all right behind England and hopefully this will be our time.”

If Joey can stay just as relaxed during the high pressure games in the World Cup, there is no doubt that he will be an asset to the England team. His comments have certainly impressed me!