Its been a more than 40 years since England won the World Cup but this year Fabio Capello's men will provide a serious challenge to all title contenders in South Africa. Wayne Rooney's unparalleled form in recent months and a vibrant midfield give the three lions a chance to repeat the success of 1966. However, Fabio Capello will have to take some tough decisions to take England all the way and deal with some important issues some of which, unfortunately, aren't even related to football.

Rooney's fine but who's the other guy up front?

The most heartening factor for England fans just before the World Cup is Wayne Rooney's incredible form for Manchester United. Rooney rose to the occasion on Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Man utd and has already scored 25 goals for the club this season. He is the leading scorer in the Premier League and Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to play him as the main striker rather than in a holding position up front has definitely paid dividends. Over the years there have been questions regarding his ability to score goals as an out and out striker but Rooney has laid such criticisms to rest. His performance against AC Milan in the Champions League knockout round was reminiscent of his early days at Everton when he used to play as a target man rather than just a bridge between midfield and the main striker up front. His two goals against AC Milan were two beautiful headers and it is very likely that Capello will play him as the main man up front after such performances. It is essential for England that Rooney keeps up this fantastic run of form but the question remains ? who is going to be his partner?

Capello has a choice between Michael Owen, Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Emile Heskey, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent. Owen is probably a dark horse considering lack of first team action with Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson has repeatedly used him as a substitute but he combines well with Rooney which might be something for Capello to keep in mind. Peter Crouch on the other hand would probably stifle Rooney as both of them would be playing the same role (though Crouch did score two goals against Belarus in the last match of the qualification campaign).

Capello could of course choose to push Lampard up front and play both Rooney and Crouch as out and out strikers but Rooney has worked well as the main man up front and England are likely to stick to that formula. It is much more likely that Capello will pick Jermaine Defoe (Tottenham), Darren Bent (Sunderland) or the pacy Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa). Each of these strikers possesses the ability to make runs in the channels between Rooney up front and the midfield. Defoe has been on the scoring spree for Tottenham but still lacks regular first team action while Bent has not had a good run of form in the past few games. Agbonlahor might be a good option but he prefers to play a role which is midway between a striker and a winger and it is up to Capello as to how much freedom he wants to give to his midfield maestros.

On the other hand Capello has favoured Emile Heskey in the past and his combination seemed to work well in the 5-1 win over Croatia last year. But Heskey has seemed industrious at best and has not made goal scoring contributions, which is after all what is expected from a forward. There are some tough decisions for Capello to make in this respect and he has to make a choice soon.

Where to play Gerrard, and is Beckham finally out?!

These are questions which have plagued the three lions since 2006. A player as versatile and capable as Gerrard should be a boon to every coach, but for England, its quite a problem to decide where to play him. Aaron Lennon, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are definitely going to be a part of the first team line up for almost every game. But, playing the two in central midfield castrates Gerrard's abilities. He ends up playing a holding role in midfield when Lampard makes his excellent runs into the box. It might be a better option to play Gerrard on the right and to play someone like Michael Carrick (Man utd) or Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) in a defensive midfield position. This builds up to our second question in midfield ? is David Beckham finally out?

While Beckham did come on for England against Brazil and has featured as a substitute several times it is quite unlikely that he will play a big role in England's World Cup plans considering the overwhelming talent in England's midfield. Theo Walcott, Stewart Downing, Ashley Young, James Milner (who was quite good against Brazil in Doha) and Shaun Wright Phillips are waiting in the wings for an opportunity to stake their claim for a position in the starting eleven. At the same time, Beckham's long ball delivery is still the one of the most beautiful things to watch on a football pitch and Capello is probably keeping an eye on his performance at Milan.

Defensive worries

The Defence is probably the most problematic area of the England team and ironically most of these problems are not about football. The recent scandal involving John Terry's alleged affair with Wayne Bridge ex girlfriend eventually led Capello to strip Terry's captaincy. This fiasco is likely to cause further rifts in the team now that Ashley Cole could be out of the World Cup after his recent injury against Everton. He is likely to be replaced by Wayne Bridge, who has done and excellent job for Manchester City in that position. The other contenders for the position are Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa) and Gary Cahill (Bolton Wanderers) both of whom are untested. Gary Cahill has not made an international appearance yet and Warnock has played just one game for England. It would be extremely unfortunate if this rift affects the prospects of the England team at the World cup. It should become clearer at the friendly against Egypt in March whether this incident has affected the performance of the players.

Rio Ferdinand and John Terry on the other hand make up a solid central defence but the position of right back is still up for grabs. Four months ago it was almost certain that Glen Johnson (Liverpool) would become a regular for England at right back. But, his dip in form has allowed Matthew Upson (West Ham) and Wes Brown (Man utd) an opportunity to try and break into the team. Gary Neville is around, as always, but Capello could choose a more youthful right back.

Who's the goalkeeper?

Finally, since Paul Robinson's catastrophic performance at the 2006 World Cup, England have not had a regular first team goalkeeper for a long time. Capello could choose to go with the brilliant but equally erratic David James (Portsmouth). In recent games however, Capello has tried to test goalkeepers Robert Green (West Ham) and Ben Foster (Man utd). However, neither of them seems to have settled into the position and Capello's final decision seems as uncertain as the flip of a coin.

Capello's men still have a long way to go to the world cup and the coach seems to have a lot on his plate with some unnecessary distractions and pressing questions concerning team selection. However, Capello's credentials are undeniable and if he is able to deal with these issues before the World Cup (and of course, if Rooney continues with his impressive scoring record) we could very well see the World Cup return to England after 44 long years.