International Football: Capello sees positives in England’s friendly win
Capello’s England were successful in recording a win in their first match after the World Cup against Hungary at Wembley. The friendly match which was scheduled to take place just before the English Premier League season started resulted in a two goals to one victory for the three lions.
Fabio made the bold decision of calling up some young blood like Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott for the national team squad, as England made an attempt to shed some old skin. Arsenal’s young English midfielder, Jack Wilshire was also given his first senior team cap in the friendly encounter.
Steven Gerrard, who was given the captain’s arm band for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, retained captaincy and put in a brilliant display by scoring twice for his national team and leading them to a comfortable win over the Hungarians. English national team manager, Fabio Capello’s main aim for this friendly match was to see how well the English players recover from their disenchanting World Cup campaign.
However, Capello did not celebrate either of the English goals and the former Real Madrid manager told ITV1 after the match that he didn’t rejoice because he was too focused on the match. Fabio also added that he wanted to see everything that was going on in the match so that he could evaluate each and every player that featured for England on the night.
The 64 year old football manager said after the match, that he was happy with England’s performance. He highlighted that England played good football in the first thirty minutes of the match but their quality faded as the match approached the last ten minutes of the first half. The former Juventus manager also paid compliments to the Hungarian team by stating that, England’s opponents were quite organized.
Fabio also added that in the second half of the match, the introduction of some young players was crucial. He went onto elaborate that it was important for the youngsters to play at Wembley rather than at an away stadium. Capello also praised the debutants by saying that, most of the young players performed very well. He further said that, England may have found some new players for their international setup after the youthful footballers impressed with their respective performances.
Steven Gerrard and his team mates were expecting a cruel reception from the Wembley crowd but the English fans were cheerful throughout the match. Capello appreciated the support that England saw throughout the match as he stated that the English fans were really good. He also acknowledged the fact that fans respect the national team and went onto say that England will try their best to win something in the future for their well wishers.
Capello also told the press that, Jack Wilshire only featured as a last minute substitute because he was in the hospital earlier on in the week due to stomach pains. He went onto explain that the young midfielder came back to the team hotel in the early hours of Wednesday after recovering from abdominal pains. Fabio was also quick to refute the beliefs that Steven Gerrard’s two goals during the match had spared his job as the English manager.
The former A.C Milan manager emphasized the importance of winning by saying that, when a player scores and a manager wins its all good but when a team starts losing matches, they turn into “nothing”. He also said that, it is not only a matter of his own reputation as he pays more heed to the reality that a team loses together and wins together.
Joe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper also made his debut for the English national team in the friendly match. Hart told the press after the match that some of the crowd booed the English team while other sections got behind the national team but in the end everyone was happy with the win. Joe also added that, according to him Hungary’s only goal of the match should not have stood valid because the ball never crossed the line.
English national team’s squad members now go back to their respective clubs and prepare for the start of the English Premier League season. England’s next competitive match will come in the 2012 European Championship’s Qualification rounds on 2nd of September, 2010 against Bulgaria at Wembley.
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