The goalkeeping problem may prove to be England's World Cup Achilles Heel

By Martin Lipton in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 12:30 06/10/09

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Fabio Capello has sorted England out in so many ways but unless he can unearth a goalkeeper good enough to play for any of the big countries, it may prove the Achilles Heel of his World Cup plans.

While Ben Foster's "mystery" injury was belatedly revealed as a chest problem the Old Trafford keeper was set to be dropped in any event after a string of gaffes.

Surprise, surprise, once again we discover the next cab off the rank appears just as flawed under pressure as all his predecessors and the mistakes Foster has made against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Sunderland, following on from his pre-season howler in Malaysia plus his injury curse, may see him miss out on South Africa.

The trouble for Capello is that the alternatives do not seem much better.

A glance at the Premier League table gives a clue to his predicament, with the bottom two spots filled by West Ham and Portsmouth - whose keepers are fighting for the starting shirt in Ukraine on Saturday.

At 39, David James does not want to be playing behind the worst team in the league, while Robert Green did himself no favours against Fulham on Sunday .

Capello has also capped Joe Hart - horrible at Burnley on Saturday - and Scott Carson (simply horrible! ) while he has included Paul Robinson despite watching him concede six at Arsenal and previously looked at the injury-prone Chris Kirkland.

Green can count himself the man in possession after starting the last five games in James' injury absence and, while the West Ham keeper does make the odd mistake, his temperament is perhaps the most sound of all the keepers at Capello's disposal.

In addition, and which really helps the Upton Park man, is the fact that Capello truly trusts the judgement of West Ham boss and fellow Italian Gianfranco Zola, who feels that Green is, if not spectacular, at least reliable.

What Capello would give for Edwin Van Der Sar, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Pepe Reina, or even Tim Howard to have a British passport.