English players ready to face fan-abuse in EPL

London: Some Premier League clubs' decision to ban vuvuzelas might backfire on some of England's biggest stars when the season starts on Saturday.

Instead of the buzzing horns that created the soundtrack of the World Cup, they'll just hear booing from a nation still angry at how they flopped in South Africa.

Thousands of England fans traveled across the world expecting Wayne Rooney and company to end the country's 44-year title drought after arriving with one of the best qualifying records.

Not only did the team return home empty-handed after woefully underperforming but they won just one of their four matches and fell in the second round to rival Germany.

Returning to the clubs that pay them multi-million-pound annual salaries, the players will have all they can do to regain the trust of disgruntled fans. And the players know it — from the captain on down.

"It's going to take quite a while to turn everything around after a disappointing World Cup," Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard said. "We need to start turning the fans back around on our side. It's going to be tough for all England players in the next couple of weeks with rival fans and will get a bit of stick.

"But we deserve that and need to take it on the chin."

They got a taste of what is to come at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. The 20,000 empty seats were a sign of the disillusionment surrounding the team.

And the 10 England players to survive coach Fabio Capello's post-World Cup cull — none more so than defender Ashley Cole — were jeered during a 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary.

It didn't help that they fell behind a team that last qualified for a major tournament 24 years ago. Only Gerrard's two goals in five minutes spared the team from embarrassment.

"When you play games like this, you're expected to roll teams over," Gerrard said. "Hopefully the nation will get back behind us."

While the players accept they weren't performing at their peak in South Africa, they are quick to hit back at fans who question their commitment to the national team.

"I don't see it as a hassle (playing for England)," Gerrard said. "But I'm not going to lie to you — since we were knocked out of the World Cup, it's been really difficult to be an England player."

Few doubt Rooney's commitment — the striker was even yellow-carded in a training match on the eve of the World Cup — but his failure to get a single goal in the tournament mystified fans and pundits who saw him score 34 times for Manchester United last season.

Rooney has cut a frustrated figure since returning to action, both in Sunday's Community Shield victory over Chelsea and when he returned to Wembley with England on Wednesday.

"I think there'll still be a bit of disappointment in the lad," United manager Alex Ferguson said ahead of Monday's league opener against Newcastle. "I think all the players coming back from the World Cup who didn't do well, who didn't reach their expectations, will feel that they've missed something.

"That's because the World Cup is only once every four years. That's the horrible part of that tournament. We have several players who have come back very, very disappointed."

But for United defender Patrice Evra, the France captain, escaping his homeland will be a relief after being part of a national team that endured a far more farcical World Cup than England's, with infighting and a player-mutiny.

"Once they're back in here, there's a different world for them," Ferguson said. "They've got familiarity and the support of everyone. It's always been there. It's a constant. It's a football club and I think the players like to get here."