Ferdinand will stay to watch first game with the USA

Ferdinand has been forced to withdraw from the tournament after suffering a knee ligament injury in training on Friday – barely 24 hours after arriving in South Africa.

But the Manchester United central defender will be supporting his team-mates when they do battle with the USA in Rustenburg.

It is unclear at this stage whether Ferdinand will then return to England or if he intends to remain with the squad for an elongated period.

Another injured player, David Beckham, is assisting coach Fabio Capello during the tournament although he is not engaged in any official coaching capacity.

Beckham has been seen on the training pitches at England's Bafokeng headquarters and also watched the USA defeat Australia 3-1 in Saturday's friendly international in Johannesburg.

Ferdinand's Manchester United clubmate Wayne Rooney will be the focal point of England's hopes of World Cup glory and United States goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann is backing the striker to cope with the "extreme pressure".

Hahnemann is aware of the massive expectation levels always resting on Rooney's shoulders to deliver the goods for club and country.

But the veteran Wolves player believes he will be able to deal with the demands ahead of England's opener with the USA in Rustenburg on Saturday.

Hahnemann, who made three fine saves in the USA's 3-1 win over Australia on Saturday, said: "The whole England team are under extreme amounts of pressure.

"I am never under that sort of pressure. You can go out wherever you want. Everyone doesn't recognise you.

"With someone like Wayne Rooney, you have that fan pressure as well where they cannot make any mistakes at all.

"Everyone was saying 'if Wayne Rooney doesn't play well, Man Utd are not going to win the championship' – and all season it was like that.

"Now, with the World Cup, there is a lot of weight on his shoulders but they have so many good players. I think Wayne can cope with it. We have all watched him grow up."

Hahnemann also feels Rooney has matured since his red card against Portugal during the 2006 World Cup.

He said: "You would watch him chase and run around, felt that he was going to 'kill' someone, and sure enough, 45 seconds later he was getting booked. That is under control but then I had that temperament when I was a young kid. Now you manage it, stay cooler and I play better and Wayne has done the same thing."