It is the first time that Great Britain and Northern Ireland have fielded a football team since the 1960 Olympics.

Pearce's team take on one of the tournament favourites, Brazil, in a warm-up match at the Riverside Stadium on Friday.

And Pearce said the team felt well supported despite the uncommon union of the British and Irish nations.

"None of us have had anyone come up to us and say, 'we hope Team GB don't do very well because we don't support it', we've not heard that," he said.

"The only thing people are saying to us is, 'good luck, we hope you're successful', and that is for myself and for all the players that are in the squad and that's inclusive of anyone that's non-English."

Pearce went on to add he would not favour English players, or select Welsh, Scottish or Irish players for any reason other than their ability.

"As I said from the offset months ago when I looked at the squad, I pick names, I don't pick nationalities. It's irrelevant to me, and I think people see how I've picked the squad, I've picked it solely on footballing reasons, not nationality or any other reason," he said.

English goalkeeper Jason Steele said he was overawed by the presence of Premier League stars Micah Richards, Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy in the squad.

"To have people like Micah who have just won the Premier League recently and Ryan Giggs who's won it, I don't know how many times, since I've been born - and obviously Craig Bellamy - it's a different experience sitting down for dinner or lunch and you're opposite Ryan Giggs," the Middlesbrough shot-stopper said.

"Sometimes you have to pinch yourself because it's not going to be forever, you know, and you're forever trying to ask questions without being too indulgent by asking too many. But just the respect that everybody's got for these three players is monumental because of what they've achieved.

"To be a part of the same squad and maybe even step foot on the same pitch as these players is going to be something special."

Great Britain and Northern Ireland face Senegal, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay in Group A of the tournament proper, which commences on July 26.