AMERICANS don’t tend to do quiet confidence – but Stuart Holden seems to have got it off to a tee as he prepares for the biggest game of his career.

Wanderers’ high-evergy midfielder spent Tuesday afternoon playing golf and posing for pictures at a local safari park, as the US squad spent a day relaxing in the tranquil surroundings of their camp on the edge of Pretoria.

Come Saturday in Rustenburg, it will be a very different story, however, as an expected 42,000 people will pack into the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, most of whom will be expecting to see Fabio Capello’s side start the tournament with a victory.

Holden might play down the likelihood of a shock, which has been a constant source of conversation in the Wanderers dressing room since he arrived in January from MLS club Houston Dynamo. But the 24-year-old has warned his adopted homeland to look past Saturday’s opener at their peril.

“We’ve got a lot of players with experience of Premier League football, myself included, and elsewhere in Europe,” he said. “We have a great camaraderie, just like we do at Bolton, and it has got us all the way to the big stage, the World Cup.

“I don’t think we’ll necessarily beat England, but it’s a good game to kick-off the group.

“I know exactly what sort of quality players we’ll be coming up against.

“You look at Wayne Rooney and he’s probably among the best three strikers in the world right now.

“You’ve got Gerrard, Lampard – they are all right up there. But if we can play our game, then you never know.”

Holden is one of a half-dozen US players plying their trade at the highest level in the Premier League, meaning the two squads will be infinitely more acquainted than they were 60 years ago when Walter Winterbottom’s England team were beaten 1-0 in one of the greatest World Cup shocks.

“I think having seen those players week in and week out, and the majority of the England team play in England, it’s definitely a help because I’m familiar with the players,” Holden said. “If I’m matched up against Ashley Cole, I’ve seen him play 15 times in the last six months.

“It will be helpful to know his tendencies, and know he likes to attack and get forward and how to deal with that. Knowing your opponent can only help you going into that game.”

One man who needs no introduction to any of the American squad is Wayne Rooney. But he reckons talk of opposing defenders ‘winding up’ the England striker in a bid to exploit his often questionable temperament have been over-played.

“Rooney’s a world-class player – he leaves everything on the field,” he said. “That’s a testament to the player he is, in that he’s so competitive and he wants to win so bad that he loses his temper a little bit.

“But that’s a part of football, and I think there are other footballers out there that play with that same type of passion and leave everything out on the field.”

Perhaps an added incentive for Holden to get a result over England is the fact his family roots are traced north of the border in Scotland. Having moved to Texas from Aberdeen at the age of 10, Owen Coyle and the rest of the tartan contingent at Wanderers have certainly not allowed him to forget his heritage.

“All the guys at Bolton have said they will support me, except when I play against England,” he said.

“Part of me feels Scottish, so I’d love to get a win. On top of that the manager and his staff are all Scots, so they have been egging me on. But, of course, my priority is doing well for the US. It’s a game I really can’t wait for.”