England to make haste for Far East

Should David Beckham, Michael Owen or Ashley Cole be involved in this season's European Cup final they are likely to be left behind when England begin their World Cup preparations.

So crucial is the need to acclimatise to Asian conditions, Sven Goran Eriksson's side is now planning to leave England before Glasgow hosts the European final on 15 May. Should Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal be involved, their England players would have to fly out later.

England are also close to securing Fifa's permission to stage warm-up matches in South Korea, against the co-hosts, and in Japan, against Cameroon. Fifa, the game's world ruling body, had barred finalists from playing at World Cup venues to prevent them gaining an unfair advantage. But the draw means neither England nor their opponents can play a finals match at either of the proposed stadiums, Seogwipo and Kobe. With South Korea and Japan keen to host friendlies to fine-tune their staging arrangements, Fifa is likely to acquiesce.

While details are yet to be confirmed, England are aiming to leave within two or three days of the end of the Premiership season which concludes on 11 May. Their first stop would be a preliminary training camp, possibly in La Manga, Spain, but more probably in Cyprus or at a venue further east. By 18 May they would move to Seogwipo, on the South Korean island of Cheju, where they have lined up a fixture against the South Koreans, probably on 22 May.

England's last warm-up, against Cameroon, who meet the Republic of Ireland in the finals, is pencilled in for the Japanese city of Kobe four days later. As their base for the finals, the Westin Hotel on Awaji island, is fully booked until then, England may have to fly directly from South Korea to Kobe, play Cameroon, then check-in at Awaji. Their first World Cup tie is on 2 June against Sweden in Saitama.

England have already arranged friendlies against the Netherlands (13 February in Amsterdam) and Italy (27 March at Elland Road, Leeds) and expect to confirm a match against Paraguay shortly. It will be staged in the north of England on 17 April, with Merseyside the probable location.

One player who will not be involved is the West Ham United player Paolo di Canio. Although the Italian has lived in this country for more than five years he does not have a UK passport. And even were he to apply for one he is an improbable selection – and not just because of his age, 33, or his temperament.

In recent years several countries, notably Poland, Japan and Russia, have naturalised foreign players, usually Africans or Brazilians, and capped them. The FA, however, is reticent to the idea and does not intend to follow suit.