World Cup 2014 Video: England settle into their training base in Brazil

VIDEO: England had their first training session in Rio de Janeiro on Monday in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain.

Roy Hodgson gives instructions to players during a training session at the Urca military base in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Richard Heathcote | Getty Images)

The latest video diary from The Independent's chief football correspondent Sam Wallace comes from the England team's first session at the stunning setting of the Urca military base.

Just 24 hours after touching down in Brazil, the England team made their way to their training base for (hopefully) a good few weeks. Roy Hodgson's side are readying themselves for their first World Cup test against Italy on Saturday.

A samba band of local children greeted the England team as they came out to begin training, with the players and manager Hodgson holding up a banner which read: "Obrigado Brasil pela recepcao calorosa", meaning "Thank you Brazil for the warm welcome".

The Urca military base is around a half an hour drive from the team's hotel in Sao Conrado. Hodgson's men trained at the base in June 2013 before a friendly against Brazil in the Maracanã.

The England captain Steven Gerrard did not last the full training session due to a groin injury, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continues to recover from a knee injury sustained against England's 2-2 draw against Ecuador last Wednesday.

Ahead of England's opening game against Italy, Hodgson said that he had a plan to stop Andrea Pirlo, who was so formidable for the Italians when they eliminated the English in Euro 2012.

In an interview given to Italian media, Hodgson said: “What are we going to do this time against Pirlo? First, we’ll play a lot better, we’ll play with more energy because we’ll have more energy because it will be the first game in the tournament. We’ll be even more compact than we were in that game."