37 days to go…

Joe Cole says he is being inspired by England legend Paul Gascoigne as he looks ahead to the World Cup Finals.

Chelsea star Cole is in the form of his life and scored a stunning goal to help his side clinch the Premiership title against Manchester United at the weekend.

Now he can finally start to look ahead to the World Cup in Germany and he is already buzzing with excitement.

He said: "I’m just excited about it. I know we haven’t been able to talk about the World Cup and we’ve been putting it to the back of our minds but really the whole season its always been there.

"It’s just so exciting. The reason I wanted to play football was because I saw Gazza playing in the 1990 World Cup. That’s always been a motivation for me.

"I can remember the moment I turned round to my family and said 'I want to play for England at the World Cup and do what Gazza is doing' because I loved him as a kid. To have the chance to be able to do it and help England to do something special in the finals will be brilliant."

Cole has been in outstanding form this season, hitting 13 goals for club and country and becoming England's first choice on the left of midfield.

He said: "I'm buzzing, I really am. I'm enjoying my football and really looking forward to the World Cup.

"It's great to go there with a league title under my belt. It was magic to win the title against United and for me to score as well was special.

"That’s my favourite goal ever. I don’t know if it’s my best but it was a special goal at a special time."

Paul Gascoigne made 57 appearances for England, scoring nine times. He made his debut against Denmark on 14 September, 1988 - a game which finished 1-0 to The Three Lions, courtesy of Neil Webb's 28th minute goal.

The England line-up that day was:

Shilton (Woods 46)
Stevens
Pearce
Robson
Adams (Walker 65)
Butcher
Rocastle
Webb
Harford (Cottee 69)
Beardsley (Gascoigne 85)
Hodge

Stay with TheFA.com as we build up to this summer's World Cup in Germany.