Both were present for last night's draw in Cape Town which pitted the USA and England alongside Algeria and Slovenia in Group C.

There are plenty of links between America and England, both on and off the field and Gulati believes it is a perfect result.

"It's very exciting. We are natural rivals and there is a long history between the countries and between the federations," Gulati told www.ussoccer.com.

"The history between the sides makes a natural alliance, we're English-speaking, we've had lots of players in the Premier League, David (Beckham) is in the MLS, David and Landon Donovan are team-mates. England is the number one stop for Americans abroad so it's a natural alliance but also a natural rivalry."

Bradley added: "It's a huge opportunity to start the World Cup against England, a huge game for our fans and a great way to start the World Cup.

"Our players will be thrilled."

Bradley, who saw his side lose 2-0 at Wembley in a friendly meeting in 2008, believes his side have grown since then.

"We look back on the game at Wembley where we learned a lot but didn't play as well as we can. We've grown a lot since then.

"It was a game where early on the tempo was fast, I felt that we were working our way into the game and the first goal came when John Terry scored on a set piece.

"It was a game where we felt disappointed at the end of the game. We were very excited. Earlier that year we had a good result in Poland and we certainly knew that the England game was going to be harder, but I don't think the transition from the end of the season into that game was as good as any of us would have liked. So that's the main memory."