Capello warning to James

Fabio Capello has warned David James he will bring his World Cup dream to an end unless he can prove his fitness.

James was back home in England nursing a knee injury as the national team were being defeated by World Cup favourites Brazil in Doha.

It means the veteran goalkeeper has not started a game for England since the qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on April 1.

It represents a long time out of the first XI for the man who is supposed to be Fabio Capello's first-choice. Certainly it appeared that way in August, when Capello hinted James was still his top man, even though he had missed the qualifying double-header in June to undergo shoulder surgery.

Since then, it is his knees that are causing James the problems.

And in revealing the full extent of his injury, Capello added a warning the 39-year-old needs to understand.

"I spoke with David James but he needs time (to recover) after every game," said Capello.

"Every time he plays, he can't train for two days afterwards so we preferred that he stayed at home.

"If he is fit, he will probably be with us (in South Africa). But if I choose the players they have to be fit - he has to be fit."

Robert Green excelled as James' initial deputy, with Ben Foster putting his case forward in the last two games, so Capello clearly has options. England are not due to play again until March 3, so there is plenty of time for James to get himself right.