The value of foreign influence to England's World Cup hopes has already been acknowledged in the form of Sven-Goran Eriksson.
If the task of reaching Japan and South Korea is completed on Saturday, it will also be fitting to pay tribute to a far less high-profile continental figure - a French osteopath.
The regular trips Steven Gerrard has made across the Channel since last season for treatment from Philippe Boixel - whose clients include fellow back-sufferers Fabien Barthez and Tony Adams - have transformed him from a midfielder racked by injury and worry to someone capable of playing 10 matches in 37 days of late for Liverpool and England.
In body and mind, the 21-year-old has been cured of his troubles. Against Greece, he will start a third straight international for the first time.
Given that England have won every game in which Gerrard has appeared, his value can hardly be overestimated. Fear may not be readily associated with a youngster whose ferocious tackling and nerveless performances have made him a talisman for club and country.
Yet, as injuries made his career a sequence of frustrating stops and starts, Gerrard was held back by self-doubt. "I was going on to the pitch just thinking about what minute I would have to come off," he admitted yesterday.
"It was a big worry, whereas now I have the confidence that I can come through three big games in a short space of time.
"Some of the problems were in my head. I was thinking I was going to get injured, and I was getting injured. Now that my head's right, I'm a lot better. When I know I'm not going to get injured, I know I'm going to play my best stuff."
The worth of Gerrard's best stuff was plain in Munich, and Eriksson must enjoy the thought that Gerrard should be able to withstand several matches in quick succession if England reach the World Cup finals. Kevin Keegan had no such luxury at Euro 2000.
Gerrard was sent to Boixel by Liverpool's manager Gerard Houllier, but his visits have been worth more than air miles.
Initially, he went every three weeks; now it is every six or so, most recently on Monday.
"He's changed my back into a better shape," Gerrard said. "I had a bad-shaped back 12 months ago and it made other parts of my body pick up niggling injuries. They're not coming now, touch wood, and hopefully I can continue to cope with a lot of games in a short space of time."
The treatment, which lasts up to a 10 hours, is complemented by pre and post-training exercises, work with Liverpool's physios and careful attention to diet. The visits to France will continue.
"I'm on a physio's table there," Gerrard explained. "He cracks a few bones about and does manipulation. Some of it's very painful."
Gerrard, of course, has dished out pain as well as suffered it. A challenge last month on Aston Villa's George Boateng, which rightly earned a red card, provided an example. Not that Gerrard believes he is as powerful as Graeme Souness, an Anfield predecessor. "I don't think [Boateng] would have carried on if it was Souness," he said.
Gerrard admits he has to temper such tackles, not least in internationals where referees can be stricter. When Paul Gascoigne chatted to him after the recent Merseyside derby, he must have been reminded of the dangers of self-inflicted damage.
"If you put in a lot of tackles, you have to make sure you do it the right way so you don't injure yourself," Gerrard acknowledged.
For now, though, his thoughts are on not treating Greece lightly. "If we approach this game the same way we did Albania and Germany we shouldn't have a problem," he said. If the World Cup does beckon, England should raise a glass to Monsieur Boixel.
