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It is a year to the day that the World Cup finals will begin in South Africa and, being the man he is, Fabio Capello will use the time productively — but a little part of him must wish that the tournament was starting tomorrow.

Forget plans B, C and D, and all that talk of experimentation. Capello knows his best XI, how he wants them to play and all the next 365 days represents is fretting time.

It is a year to worry about whether Emile Heskey, who will be 32 and probably even more injury-prone by next summer, will be fit enough to lead the line. Peter Crouch is a completely different build, and less attractive player.

It is 12 months to wonder whether Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney will be in the sort of buoyant form that they took into last night’s victory stroll against Andorra, or will one of them have succumbed to the usual pre-tournament curse of the metatarsal?

England may have been missing Heskey, Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Barry and David James last night, but the first two could have played at a push and Barry was absent only because of a one-match suspension. Capello will be delighted if his squad, and particularly the attacking nucleus of his team, is in this shape a year from now as attention turns to the first World Cup to be played in Africa.

History suggests that Capello will not be so fortunate; that at least one of his players will be nursing a broken bone, and another will be agonising over a big-money move as Gerrard was when he underwhelmed at Euro 2004.

Going into last night’s qualifier, there were some groans that Capello had not chosen to experiment, as if he was missing a trick.

But while circumstances may force changes in the first XI in the next 12 months, it is hard to see where. James remains the best English goalkeeper in the Barclays Premier League and, among the back four, the only place up for grabs is at right back. Glen Johnson’s career has enjoyed a second wind this season and a move to Chelsea or Liverpool this summer would be in everyone’s interests.

Owen Hargreaves could become an option as a man-marker in midfield if the Manchester United terrier can regain fitness, and Capello will keep an eye on Ashley Young and James Milner’s progress at Aston Villa. Joe Cole will return at Chelsea to provide another option. But the idea that Capello might stumble on some magic ingredient, or a player unduly overlooked, in the next 12 months is wishful thinking. Some promising young talent is out there, such as Michael Mancienne, but Capello is not travelling to the European Under-21 Championship in Sweden next week expecting a Eureka moment.

England’s games next season will provide the chance to tinker, to address some matters of “what if” should Heskey struggle for fitness or Barry lose form at Manchester City, but the mould is surely set.

Capello has solved the Lampard/Gerrard debate, resolved the left-wing conundrum in the process and found Rooney’s best position, which is more than Sir Alex Ferguson has managed at United.

He has banished the fear, both on the road and now at Wembley, where even Gary Neville, not always embraced in the national stadium, got a warm reception last night as he did his stretches on the sidelines. Those things that he has not solved — the inability to match Spain for possession football, the lack of a world-class goalkeeper, a prolific No 9 — are matters beyond his control.

If the opening game in the Soccer City stadium near Soweto in Johannesburg was today and not 365 days from now, Capello would surely not complain. Still, he has a year to use and will not leave any stone unturned as he seeks to make the most of it. After his trip to the under-21 tournament, he will fly to watch the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

There will be the opportunity to check out training bases, with Capello particularly interested in the issue of altitude. There are conflicting theories as to whether playing at 1,600 metres will have much effect but Capello will not take any chances.

As The Times revealed recently, he and the England doctors will visit the British Lions camp in Durban to compare notes about training and physical preparation.

Capello will return from South Africa with a dossier about England’s ideal base — and, unlike in Sven-

Göran Eriksson’s time, he will not be consulting the players, and least of all their wives, about the location — and no doubt with plans about the friendlies he wants to play as he seeks to fine-tune his team.

It is questionable, though, whether the England team we see in 12 months’ time will be much different from that of last night — Capello will hope not.