England were given a thunderous send-off by the Kaiser Chiefs at their charity ball last night as they prepare to head out to Portugal at lunchtime.

The Lions and Roses dinner, which was held at the Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire, marked the starting point for the country’s World Cup preparations.

Roy Hodgson’s 23 man squad, plus John Stones and Jon Flanagan, will convene at the prestigious Vale do Lobo resort today to begin their preparations for Brazil.

The Liverpool Boys: Daniel Sturridge tweeted this picture with Sterling, Henderson and Flanagan

I predict a riot: Kaiser Chiefs performed for the England squad at the charity gala

Chief: Lead singer Ricky Wilson sings from on top of a lion statue during the charity event

Prepared: Danny Welbeck (centre) joins keepers Joe Hart and Fraser Forster at the charity event

It is there that England’s players will sometimes train in hats and gloves to help acclimatise to the conditions expected in Manaus when they play Italy at the tournament.

England’s performance team have packed the winter gear to help the players’ bodies adjust to the heat and humidity which they will encounter next month.

Hodgson is taking his entire back room staff out to Portugal, including their newly-appointed performance specialist Dave Reddin.

The summer season is just beginning in Portugal and the team will also encounter daily temperatures of around 26 degrees celsius when they arrive in Miami.

Hodgson’s squad will spend this week together before retiring to St George’s Park on May 26 to prepare for a friendly with Peru at Wembley four days later.

After the clash with Peru, they head out to Miami on June 1 to play friendlies against Ecuador (Jun 4) and Honduras (Jun 7). The squad fly to their Rio base camp the following day.

Ready to go: (L-R) Lampard, Barkley, Johnson, Foster, Milner, Shaw, Cahill and
Baines arrive at the gala

Young stars: Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberalin, Wilshere and Sterling are
all vying for starting spots in Brazil

England's finest: Captain Gerrard (left) poses with (left to right) Lambert, Flanagan, Smalling and Jones

Send-off: Kaiser Chiefs (above) and Rizzle kicks played the charity
gala for the England Footballers Foundation

Hodgson, who confirmed Frank Lampard as his vice-captain yesterday, said: ‘All of us are going to Brazil with one burning ambition.

"We’ve worked hard to get there and want to come home with people saying 'well done'."

"But there’s only one way for that to happen, by preparing properly, competing in the best shape and get our minds right. That doesn’t mean locking people up in their rooms or making them go through four-hour meetings."

"They’re human beings and we want them to perform as well as they can perform."

"We have the hope, dream and ambition. But to do well, we have to play well, play better than the opponents, for all the players to live up to their reputations."

"They deserve those big reputations. It’s up to them to live up to them and up to us as a coaching team to ensure they’re capable of doing that."

Getting fit: Rooney (left) is already in Portugal where he has been doing fitness work

Team-mate Danny Welbeck, who is fit, has also been training daily in Dubai along with his brothers, some friends and a personal trainer.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was left out of Arsenal’s FA Cup final squad on Saturday, has joined the England party.

Arsenal chief Arsene Wenger said: ‘He was desperate to play against Hull.

"Pain-wise he could have played, but I judged him to be short physically."

"We wanted to play players who were completely fit. Physically, he was a bit short."

"Certainly he could have played 20/30 minutes, but you can’t programme it like that. We left him out, but he’s on the way up and he needs more fitness work now. He will go to Portugal with (Jack) Wilshere."

Wilshere came on as a substitute for Arsenal in their thrilling 3-2 victory over Hull at Wembley in Saturday’s final.

Phil Jones, who aggravated his shoulder playing for Manchester United against Hull on May 6, remains in the 'at risk' category.

Preparation: Hodgson insists the work in Portugal is vital to England's
chances of a successful World Cup

Injury worries: Jones (left) is still struggling with a shoulder injury but Chamberlain (right) is fit again

Adam Lallana, who was nursing a minor groin injury in Southampton’s final few Premier League games, has no long-term issues.

Hodgson intends the week in Portugal to be a low-key start to the country’s preparations, but it has not gone unnoticed that other teams are already underway.

Germany drew with Poland in midweek and Louis van Gaal’s Holland side drew 1-1 with Ecuador in a World Cup warm-up on Saturday.

England have a slower start, but will ramp up preparations when they play Peru at Wembley in front of a full house on May 30.