Football

The 2010 World Cup qualifiers begin on Saturday and, for England’s new manager, Fabio Capello, the match against Croatia in Zagreb on September 10 could be a decisive fixture. England missed out on this summer’s European Championship finals after losing twice to Croatia. It remains to be seen whether Capello, the Italian authoritarian who started work in January, can succeed where the maligned Steve McClaren failed. So far, in five friendly matches before his competitive debut against Andorra on Saturday, Capello has shown alarming reliance on the same old players and on the pony-tailed interpreter who helps him on the many times that his English falters.

Rugby union

England need to finish in the world’s top four to ensure a favourable seeding in the 2011 World Cup, that, effectively, means winning against the Springboks, All Blacks and Australia. Home advantage and end-of-season fatigue among the visitors will favour them, as will the discipline imposed by Martin Johnson, the new manager, who will cut through the wooliness that has clouded England’s results in recent seasons.

Cricket

Despite their most recent Test series ending in defeat, England will travel to India in November in a more confident frame of mind than at any time since the immediate aftermath of the Ashes series in 2005. This is entirely down to Kevin Pietersen, who has galvanised the team since taking over the captaincy from Michael Vaughan.

With Andrew Flintoff back to somewhere near his best and Stephen Harmison having rediscovered his mojo, England should be able to target India’s ageing quartet of top batsmen. England will start as underdogs, but may just nick a tight two-match series.

Motor racing

The Formula One season has six more races to come and concludes in Brazil on November 2. The championship run-in will be contested by Lewis Hamilton, of McLaren Mercedes, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Hamilton looks the stronger and can be expected to prevail in only his second F1 season. Among the races to come is the sport’s first grand prix to be staged at night to be held in Singapore on September 28. The season end will be dominated by speculation over whether Kimi Raikkonen will stay at Ferrari and the future for Fernando Alonso who has endured a terrible year with Renault.

Golf

Europe have a glorious chance to defeat the Americans for a record fourth time in a row in the Ryder Cup at the Valhalla golf club, Louisville, Kentucky, from September 19-21. Europe’s team, a blend of experience and youth, is led by Padraig Harrington who has won the past two major championships and has only four rookies. The US team, one of the weakest in recent memory, has six men making their debuts and are without the world’s best player, Tiger Woods. Watch for Lee Westwood, the Englishman who has not lost a match in this biennial competition since 2002, to shine for Europe and Anthony Kim for the US.