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Capello backs England to light up SA
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-11 11:53 LONDON: Fabio Capello has insisted that a flawless qualifying campaign has earned England the right to be regarded as serious contenders to lift the World Cup next year.
A 5-1 demolition of Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday underlined the extent of the transformation in England's fortunes under the Italian, with the eighth straight win in Group Six securing their ticket to South Africa with two games to spare. And while the Italian coach could hardly be accused of tub-thumping, he was happy to endorse a suggestion that England will enter the first World Cup in Africa with a serious shot at glory. "Yes, why not?" he responded when the suggestion was put to him. "All the players in the squad are really good." Two goals apiece for Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney's ninth goal of the qualifying campaign reflected Capello's success in getting the best out of England's big players and the Italian appears willing to embrace the now-inevitable hype over his squad's prospects for next year. "The expectation is always the same with the England team, it will be very high," he said. "We have to play to win because we are England, one of the best teams in the world, this is my opinion, my idea. We have to play with the spirit we played with this evening." The quality of the players at Capello's disposal was called into question by their failure to reach Euro 2008, but there is no disputing that their performances have improved steadily under his leadership. Albeit against an injury-hit Croatia, Wednesday's display underlined that and the visitors' chastened coach, Slaven Bilic, was happy to endorse England's credentials as potential world beaters.
Asked if England could win the World Cup, Bilic responded unequivocally: "Based on tonight, definitely." The former West Ham defender said: "Not even in our worst nightmares were we expecting this kind of defeat. "They played fantastic from the start. They looked the sharper side from the start and the first two goals lifted them further while we became more insecure and afraid. We were happy it was only 2-0 at half-time. It could have been five." England seized control of the match in the opening 20 minutes as the outstanding Aaron Lennon first won a penalty that Lampard converted before providing the cross for Gerrard to head in the first of his two goals on the night. "For me, we played the best 20 minutes of the qualifying games," Capello said. "We played quickly, we won back the ball quickly, the quality of the passing was very good. "The spirit of the group, the concentration in every moment of the game, the players helping each other, the movement when the ball was with the opponents and when we had it - I was very happy with everything."
"I played him only in the second half against Slovenia but it was always my idea to have him in the starting XI against Croatia," the coach revealed. "I could see when I watched him (for Spurs) against Birmingham and in training that he is in a fantastic period of form. "We need a player like him. One to one, it is not easy to stop him." AFP |
