What’s it like to… be in England’s World Cup squad?

‘Daws’ featured in 40 of our 46 matches as we finished fourth in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League for the first time and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where we suffered an unexpected loss to Portsmouth.

It’s to the team’s credit that they bounced back from that defeat at Wembley to win four of our next five matches in the home stretch, beating Chelsea, Arsenal and then Manchester City on that famous night at the Etihad.

Michael joined another four Spurs players – Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Ledley and Aaron Lennon - in Capello’s provisional 30-man squad, but agonisingly was cut from the final 26 for South Africa.

However, Rio Ferdinand was injured in England’s first training session in South Africa on 4 June and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament – Daws called in as his replacement.

Michael featured in a friendly win against Platinum Stars – Defoe on target, but not seen as an ‘official’ match, so Daws didn’t win a cap – and he remained an unused member of the squad as England were knocked out by Germany.

Daws went on to win four caps.

What’s it like to… be in England’s World Cup squad?

Michael Dawson: “First of all, it’s an honour. I was in a 30-man provisional squad, left out and then Rio Ferdinand got injured on the first day of training and I was called up. I went in as an uncapped player alongside absolute superstars. I was thinking, ‘what is this going to be like for me?’ and I'll tell you what, it was an incredible experience and a learning curve for me, being away for long periods, isolated, alongside all the pressure.

“I wasn't one of those players who was playing, I was there to support the team. I was going in as fifth choice centre half, then Ledley gets injured, then Jamie Carragher gets suspended and you start thinking, ‘wow I'm now a lot closer to playing than I was before…’ but it wasn’t to be.

“We had five players out there – Leds, myself, Crouchy, JD and Azza. I would play darts with David James at the hotel, Glen Johnson, Crouchy, myself. I would always play darts and try and interact because I wasn't playing. That’s the only thing about the whole experience, I knew the probability was that I wasn’t going to play. I wasn't like one of the main figures, so you have to learn from these players, you try and learn and experience it all and you want to be part of it. I played golf every afternoon with the guys, I mean Joe Hart was I think probably number two goalkeeper, he might have even been number three, Theo Walcott, I always tried to interact with everyone and mix and be part of the squad and team.

“I go back to when I was 17, 18, when Ronaldinho scored that goal for Brazil against England (in the quarter-finals) in 2002. I was in the pub at seven o'clock in the morning with my brother… years later and I’m there at the World Cup and dreaming, thinking, ‘wow, just to be part of it’ and you've got superstars all around you and you're going to World Cup games with all the expectation and pressure of playing for England.

“It’s something you dream of and that's was what it was for me. Unfortunately, I didn't play a minute in South Africa, but it was certainly a learning curve, just being involved and seeing it from the inside rather than the outside looking in.”