Wayne Rooney cannot wait for the World Cup to begin.
Although the subject of Rooney's temper was a major topic of conversation during yesterday's 3-0 practice match victory against the Platinum Stars, England's star man is focused purely on beating the United States in the Group C opener in Rustenburg on Saturday.
"I just can't wait now," he said. "The sooner it comes, the better."
Rooney wrapped up England's win yesterday, having already set up Joe Cole for their second.
There were a few hints at Fabio Capello's likely starting line-up at the weekend, with Emile Heskey partnering Rooney after the interval.
Cole played on the left, while skipper's Steven Gerrard partnership with Frank Lampard in central midfield at the start looked as though it was a fairly definitive statement on England's engine room.
At the back, Ledley King was matched up with old friend John Terry at the heart of England's defence.
Given King's relatively infrequent appearances, either on the training ground or in a match, Joe Hart's presence in goal, without having started a game for his country, was intriguing, although Robert Green was between the sticks for the Tottenham captain's last appearance against Mexico at Wembley last month.
Not that yesterday's performance was a triumph for anyone, even if Rooney found reasons to be cheerful.
"It was a good run out," he said.
"We needed to get the game in and to play 45 minutes felt good so I was happy."
"We got out of it what he needed. I would have liked to have got a bit more of a game but I was happy with the 45 minutes."
Unfortunately, Rooney also picked up a booking for dissent and offered ammunition for Alexi Lalas, who has claimed the United States should attempt to wind England's star man up in the hopes of distracting him from his overall objective.
Yet Jermain Defoe, who scored the opener yesterday, has no intention of calling for Rooney to curb his volatile temper.
"If under control, I think Wayne's temper is a good thing," said the Tottenham star.
"He has that fire in his belly. If you take that away from him then he won't be the same player."
But Rooney has been warned he needs to keep his emotions in check or face being sent off at the World Cup.
The referee in yesterday's match, Jeff Selogilwe, claimed he was insulted by Rooney - whom he said apologised afterwards - and told the Manchester United striker he will risk getting a red card if he behaves in a similar way when the World Cup gets under way.
"I was very disappointed in Rooney because he is my favourite player," Selogilwe was quoted as saying in several newspapers. "He insulted me.
"He is a good player when you see him on the TV, but when you see him on the pitch, he just keeps on insulting the referees.
"To me it looks like Rooney insults people and fouls other players. If he insults a referee like me then he will use that vulgar language to other referees as well.
"He must learn to control his temper. He could get sent off in the World Cup, especially if he uses this kind of language."