The veteran is fighting it out with West Ham’s Robert Green and Manchester City’s Joe Hart for the honour, with the battle the closest in years as Capello keeps his cards close to his chest.

James, Green and Hart have all been given game time by the Italian ahead of the Group C opener against USA in Rustenburg on Saturday as he keeps everyone guessing and on their toes (England 4/9 to win – 90 Minutes).

And James insists he is paying little attention to the fact he has been handed the number one jersey with Green set to wear 12 and Hart 23.

The former Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester City man said: “I genuinely believe England are going to be successful, I want that above everything else. I want to be part of that success so I want to be number one.”

James added in the Daily Mirror: “A long time ago I stopped trying to second-guess people. I get stressed about Portsmouth losing and so I haven’t burdened myself with the extra stress of wondering what’s in the mind of Fabio Capello.

“I don’t think about the numerical position in the squad. It may be that the number one is the fittest and plays, but the idea is that all three are out there, trying their best to be the number one.”

Capello has included Joe Cole, Peter Crouch and Aaron Lennon in his ‘first XI’ in terms of numbers and it remains to be seen if the 63-year-old has shown his hand or not.

Cole, who will leave Chelsea this summer, admits he is desperate to start the tournament in England’s side.

He said: “It’s a great feeling being at a World Cup. I love coming away for these tournaments.

“I remember how excited I was for my first World Cup (in 2002). It was new and amazing. I still have that hunger and it would mean the world to me to play against America.

The main thing is that we get the result because the first game of the tournament is so important.”

Ahead of the game, USA coach Bob Bradley insists he has not formulated any rough-house tactics for Wayne Rooney whose temperament was again questioned following his yellow card against the Platinum Stars on Monday in the Three Lions’ final warm-up game (7/2 – Rooney to receive a red card during the tournament).

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Italy

Pirlo suffered a calf injury in the world champions’ 2-1 defeat to Mexico on Thursday, and medical staff expect him to be out for up to 20 days (Italy 9/4 to be eliminated in the quarter-finals).

That would rule Pirlo out of the opening Group F fixture against Paraguay in Cape Town on June 14. (Italy 5/6 to win, Paraguay 16/5, draw 23/10)

“He will probably travel to South Africa but will, for sure, miss the first game,” said Enrico Castellacci, Italy’s head doctor.

The 2006 World Cup winner now faces a race to be fit for the second Group F game against New Zealand.

“It’s an injury which worries me but there’s time,” Castellacci said, saying the recovery period was at least 15 days.

“The intention is to take him to South Africa to see if he can be fit. Before June 13 we can change players in the squad.”

Pirlo, who would have been a definite starter, has left the Azzurri’s training camp in the Italian Alps to rest at home.

He was due to miss Saturday’s final friendly with Switzerland in Geneva in any case after coach Marcello Lippi said he would use players who did not feature against Mexico.

Lippi already has concerns over winger Mauro Camoranesi, who has a knee injury, and the loss of Pirlo for any games at the World Cup would be a big blow to the holders.

Castellacci said Camoranesi was progressing well. Lippi had already put midfielder Andrea Cossu, left out of the 23-man squad, on alert to go to South Africa if Camoranesi was not fit and the Cagliari man would also be the most like-for-like replacement for Pirlo.

If both Pirlo and Camoranesi are not fit for the tournament, midfielder Antonio Candreva could come in having been in the provisional 30-man squad.

Pirlo’s dead-ball ability and neat passing were key to Italy’s 2006 triumph but he has struggled for AC Milan in the last two years.

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