After the 11-hour journey from London, Dawson transferred by road to the England World Cup training camp where, after checking into his room, he reported in directly for morning training in bright sunshine.
His arrival would have given a much-needed boost to the squad's spirits - not to mention defensive resources - after the setback of losing captain Ferdinand the day before through injury in their first training session.
Two more of England's central defenders, Matthew Upson and Ledley King, were not present on the training ground to greet Dawson: the former was tucked up in bed with a temperature and the latter was working in the gym to shield brittle knees.
The 26-year-old uncapped Dawson was called up on Friday three days after being axed from manager Fabio Capello's provisional 30-man squad.
As Dawson jogged gingerly on to the field 15 minutes into the morning session, Capello marched across to shake his hand. Former captain John Terry, England's only other established central defender, also greeted Dawson.
Both men signalled, in their actions, how pleased they were to see reinforcements arriving to bolster England's ailing, and creaking, defensive resources just a week before their opening Group C fixture against the United States on June 12.
"All the players who are here with me are important," Capello told reporters. "But Rio was one of the starting players, the captain, a leader. So, you have to take into account this might happen.
"Sometimes it happens during a game, sometimes in training, sometimes before you get to a final. You just have to deal with it. Dawson was unlucky not be selected anyway."
