*Roy Hodgson initially claimed Manaus was ‘not ideal’ for World Cup opener

*State governor Omar Aziz said they had hoped for a ‘better’ side to come

*Now England manager says in letter that trip to jungle is ‘dream come true’

Roy Hodgson has sent a grovelling letter to Amazonian officials in a charm offensive to try and make up for his gaffe criticising the city of Manaus.

The England boss caused a storm before the World Cup draw in December by saying he would most like to avoid the heat and humidity of the jungle city.

The mayor of Manaus then hit back, saying he did not want England to play in the city either — and that he was hoping for a ‘better’ national side to play there.

England were then drawn to face Italy in Manaus in their opening match on June 14.

No superlative is spared in the letter from Hodgson to Omar Aziz, governor of the state of Amazonas, on FA-headed notepaper and dated January 17.

He uses the phrases ‘extremely happy’, ‘one of the highlights of the tournament’, ‘wonderful city’ and ‘dream come true’ in his sycophantic letter.

The England boss will visit the city, and its still-unfinished Arena da Amazonia stadium, with FA officials on a still-to-be-decided date in February.

In welcoming the letter, Aziz said: ‘Let’s welcome the English with the affection and warmth particular to the Amazon. We can show them our natural beauty, costumes and a unique cuisine that enhances life expectancy.’

Dear Governor Omar Aziz,

Everyone at the FA is delighted that the England team has qualified for the 2014 Brazil World Cup, it promises to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

We are extremely happy to be visiting your city as part of our World Cup experience; I know the city of Manaus will be a fine location for our team to be based ahead of the Group Stage match against Italy.

I am particularly keen to make contact with you following last year’s media reports about the England vs Italy match in Manaus. I would like to put on record that I am looking forward to experiencing your city, learning about the culture and history and of course meeting the people!

It promises to be one of the highlights of the tournament for us. I plan to visit your city next month on a fact-finding trip with my FA colleagues and the British Ambassador to Brazil.

In addition, my coaches and I have decided that we would like to stay two nights in Manaus before the match against Italy on Saturday 14 and we will also stay the night after the game.

Therefore we will look to be spending four days in your wonderful city. My colleagues have already visited the FIFA-allocated hotel and the Arena da Amazonia and I have heard some very promising reports.

I am also sure our fans will find your city extremely accommodating and become involved in the Brazilian World Cup spirit. We expect to have several thousand fans following England in Brazil and their support of the national team is second to none. Their enthusiasm and behaviour have been exemplary in recent World Cup tournaments (particularly Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010 with no arrests made) and this is something the English FA will work hard to continue in 2010 (sic).

I know that the English fans will make a great contribution to the overall tournament.

I know that it will be a dream come true for my players to participate in the summer’s World Cup and your city is going to play an important part in our World Cup adventure.

I am sure that you are as enthusiastic as I am about our forthcoming Group match and look forward to meeting you in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Roy Hodgson

England Manager

—Daily Mail