On the lookout: An armed police officer guards the England playersArmed security officers saw England's World Cup squad off the plane as they landed in South Africa for the finals.
Fabio Capello's squad stepped off their 11-and-a-half hour flight from Heathrow on Thursday morning to be greeted by heavy security.
Among the travelling party was David Beckham, was has become part of Capello's backroom team after being ruled out of the tournament through injury.
The likes of Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand showed little sign of tiredness despite their long flight from England.
The players were still wearing their official suits after jumping off the plane at Tambo airport in Johannesburg.
They will continue their journey to their training base at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus in Rustenburg.
On guard: Security staff race towards the plane on its arrival in South AfricaEngland have nine days of training in South Africa before they face the United States in their opening Group C match in Rustenburg on June 12.
The training HQ is eight miles from the the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Phokeng.
Capello was heavily involved in the rebuilding of the multi-million pound training base.
Rustenburg is 1500m above sea level and England's stars have undergone specialist altitude training to cope with the conditions.
Warm welcome: Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and John TerryCaptain Rio Ferdinand is confident that the boredom factor will not affect the players through such a lengthy build-up.
He said: 'The days leading up to the first game are the most important period in terms of staying away from boredom and stuff like that.
Influence: David Beckham joins Fabio Capello's backroom staff at the World Cup
Head down: Shaun Wright-Phillips (front right) carries his pillow off the flight'Once the games start, you are watching other games, and the adrenalin kicks in, and you are chomping at the bit to get to the next game, and you are recuperating after games and stuff.
'The initial period before the games start is the boredom period but we've got a lot to do, computers, cards, table tennis, pool etc. We've got great facilities at the camp which is good.'
Ready for lift-off: England players posed for photos at Heathrow last nightsource: dailymail
