They will certainly miss Rooney but I think they'll get through the group stage and though unlikely I agree, England are capable and have the players to put in some good performances if they can just get their act together.
Pele gets my vote, he played on the biggest stage and did the business, but one player I also really rate was George Best, when you watch some of his clips he was brilliant.
At last, too many high profile mistakes in recent tournaments, saw a program on the Hawk Eye system before FIFA decided against it last time, looked like it worked well then.