Capello points out World Cup dangers
England’s Italian manager, Fabio Capello is being hailed as the country’s savior; one expected to bring World Cup glory to the islands after a long wait since 1966. And much of this optimism may not actually be misplaced given the impressive way in which England qualified from its group. The highlight of their qualifying round was of course their 4-1 rout of Croatia in Zagreb courtesy to a Theo Walcott hat trick.
That form has installed England as favorites for the World Cup 2010 to be held in South Africa along with reigning European champions Spain and traditional powerhouse, Brazil. However, the England manager is taking nothing for granted and put on his forecasting glasses in order to pinpoint potential dangers other than the usual suspects.
The iron coach, Capello has pinpointed Germany as a potential danger at the World Cup, which starts in less than a month. In Swindon to meet fans, Capello pointed to Germany’s rich history at the football World Cup and highlighted their fantastic powers of resilience. He further added that Germany’s prowess at the World Cup paints them as another danger that England will have to contend with at the World cup.
Using the example of German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich, Capello pointed out that the Bavarian giants epitomized the German mindset to football. Bayern Munich only just qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League but has gotten better as the tournament as gone on.
After barely scraping into the knock-out round courtesy to beating Juventus, they had to squeak past Fiorentina thanks to some dubious refereeing decisions which were made in their decision. They followed that up by defeating Manchester United to set up a final date against Inter Milan on May 22 nd in Madrid. The highlight was their comeback at the Theatre of Dreams when they came back from 3-0 down to finish 3-2 in order to complete a fine aggregate win over the English champions.
Capello highlighted the advantages that German teams usually had: "At the end of the season, they (German teams) are very dangerous to play against because during the winter, they stop for one month, the Bundesliga.”They recover the fastest, always, and this is really good for their players."
Despite his fulsome praise of Germany, the Italian manager was confident that England will have a freshness of their own which will help propel them through the tournament: "The English players arrive tired but I think in one month, with the doctors and different training, we will be fit for the start of the World Cup."
Capello also offered an assortment of opinions over which teams, he thinks, might spring a surprise in the tournament. He said he expected there to be surprises and that one of the African teams might just be a dark horse in the tournament, especially given the fact that the World Cup was being held on the African continent. He spelled out all the possible dangers: "Possibly, it will be Ivory Coast or South Africa because they play at home.” The others, always the same...Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany, and Italy...yes always two teams. The people say it's not good but Germany is the team they has played the most finals in the world. Italy, more or less, after Brazil is the same...for that reason, you have to respect those teams always."
England have just a few more warm-up matches to go before the tournament and Capello confirmed his position that only those players will be on the plane to South Africa who have been able to prove their fitness. That statement might raise a few cold sweats for Gareth Barry who is set to see a specialist regarding an ankle injury that he suffered, playing for Manchester City in the 1-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur. Capello’s words just about ends Owen Hargreaves’ dreams of making the World Cup Squad as well: "I have to speak with the doctors but if the player is fit, he will stay with us. But if a player is injured or has some problem, they will not stay with us. Because I prefer one fit player as opposed to one player who is not fit. Injury, even small problems, I will have to speak with the doctors."
Capello finished his talk by saying that despite the threats at the World Cup, he was quietly confident that the momentum built by their qualifying campaign will show as the players will be more self-assured heading into ‘footballing’ battle.
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