Oxlade-Chamberlain is showing fine turn of speed in his recovery

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s participation in the World Cup was thrown into doubt when he strained a medial knee ligament in England’s draw against Ecuador in Miami last Wednesday.

He sat inside as the rest of the 23-man squad took part in a full training session at the Urca military base yesterday, but he emerged later to embark upon a series of shuttle runs with fitness coach Tony Strudwick.

The Arsenal midfielder wore a brace on his injured right knee, but he put in a series of 20-yard bursts at full-speed, which is welcome news for manager Roy Hodgson ahead of Saturday’s Group D opener against Italy in Manaus.

Hodgson has until Friday to decide whether he wants to replace the 20-year-old with either Jon Flanagan or John Stones, who are on standby.

Captain Steven Gerrard did not complete the hour-long session in near-30 degree heat and it later emerged that he withdrew as he had a tight groin.

England were given a typically-Brazilian welcome for their first session at the training base, which stands in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain.

A samba band made up of 20 children from local Sport Relief funded project, Bola Pra Frente, greeted the squad as they came out to train.

A local man sang Queen song We are the Champions as the squad posed for pictures.

The bookmakers regard England as anything but potential champions, but Brazil’s most 
famous footballer seems to regard the Three Lions as contenders.

“I prefer Brazil to face Uruguay, then you have the revenge,” said Pele, referring to Uruguay’s shock triumph over Brazil here in 1950.

Asked about England’s chances, Pele was quoted as saying: “England – like Brazil, Italy, France – have a reputation. We must be prepared for them.”

As you would expect for a military base, security was tight around the squad as they trained.

England were given a police escort to the training ground and were held up for a few minutes as the coach had left without Ross Barkley, who then boarded to ironic cheers.

The squad will train at Urca today and tomorrow before flying to Manaus, where reality will hit the players.

Hodgson has almost four decades of coaching experience, but he will come under pressure like never before in this World Cup.

The 66-year-old is confident he has a good enough support network around him to cope. “What helps me deal with (the pressure) is the players,” he said. “I enjoy working with the players – they are the ones who really excite me.

“What keeps me going and keeps me calm is watching training sessions and seeing players perform, feeling we have got good players in England now who could be very exciting in this tournament and going forward.

“That’s what gives me the calmness because I don’t feel there is any need to be concerned about them.”

Barkley – who is hopeful he can realise “every kid’s dream” by facing some of the best players on the planet in the World Cup – believes England have to be positive in the group stage in Brazil.

The 20-year-old is likely to be on the bench for England’s opening encounter against Italy in Manaus on Saturday, with matches to follow against Uruguay and Costa Rica.

Doubts have been raised over whether manager Hodgson’s side can make the knockout stage and Barkley thinks their first result could be crucial.

“It’s very important when you go into a tournament to set the tone in the first game,” he said.

“You have got to start with a good result, go into the game prepared and looking to win the game.

“With all the big-name players it’s going to be a big test playing against Uruguay, but if we get a good result against Italy we can take confidence into the second game.

“We need to be positive throughout the group stage.”