By Alistair Magowan
BBC Sport
Women's World Cup 2011
- Venue: Germany
- Date: 26 June - 17 July
- Coverage: Watch all England matches live on the Red Button and BBC Sport website (UK only); listen on BBC Radio 5 live; highlights on BBC Two; final live on BBC Three
Powell confident of squad strength
England will begin their third women's World Cup with their strongest ever squad as they look to better their quarter-final appearances of 1995 and 2007.
In 2007 they were beaten by the United States but a recent 2-1 win over the two-time champions has given Hope Powell's team added confidence.
Powell's side play Mexico on Monday before facing New Zealand and Japan.
"There's more depth to the squad than we have ever had," Powell said.
"In my experience as the coach, it's the first time we've had that luxury."
England's Group B opponents
- Mexico, 27 Jun 1700 BST
- New Zealand, 1 Jul, 1715 BST
- Japan, 5 Jul, 1715 BST
England, who are in Group B in the tournament, are 10th in Fifa's world rankings and face Mexico, ranked 22nd, with captain Faye White and midfielder Fara Williams having overcome recent knee injuries.
Both played in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Australia on Thursday, which the Aussies won 2-0. Mexico lost to the same opposition three days earlier but took a 2-0 lead before conceding three times.
For some of the current England squad, the 2007 World Cup was their first experience of the game's biggest showpiece, with Powell part of the playing staff on the previous occasion.
Their path to the European Championship final two years ago, where they were beaten by Germany, has shown a steady progression during Powell's 13 years in charge.
And they showed they are a growing force with an unbeaten World Cup qualifying campaign.
Powell, 44, is urging cautious optimism, and although she has concerns that many of the players have played only played a handful of domestic games in the build-up to the tournament, she also hopes their freshness will be an advantage.
The former England midfielder is also wary of reading too much into recent friendly wins over the US and the world's fifth-ranked team Sweden.
White relieved to have overcome injury
"One-off games are very different to tournament play," she told BBC Sport. "The rest and recovery is crucial and how you manage the 21 players is crucial too. It will take 21 players to take us to where we want to be, which in the first instance is out of the group."
England will have five players making their major tournament debut but White believes their inclusion, plus the experience over the last four years, will stand England in good stead.
"The European Championship was a massive learning curve for us," White told BBC Sport. "Getting to the final and the whole demands of playing six games, how to ride your luck in the tournament, which we did, but we all fought really hard to get where we did in the end.
"We have the younger players coming in as well... so I expect it to be one of the best and we certainly want to put in best performances we can."
The 33-year-old defender added: "The good thing is we went through the qualifying not really playing well but we've got through that and in the lead up to the World Cup we have been improving and believing more.
"But of course it easy to do that in friendlies when there is no pressure. We now have to do that in the big games."
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