World Cup 2010: Fabio Capello's got his final 23 right
Fabio's selection has been amazing for the World Cup 2010 as his players stand up against most of the competition quite well. Of course the phrase golden generation was and still is more than a bit too strong, but this England team - and crucially, manager Fabio Capello's 23-man-selection really stands up well against most of the other major nations participating in the 2010 World Cup.
Spain is still the best, and Brazil will also claim rightful superiority over England in spite of Dunga's handful of controversial selections. Argentina, France and even reigning champions Italy have fallen equally foul of questionable coaching decisions, both in months gone by and also in their more recent history. Therefore, England should certainly see themselves as having equal if not greater chance of triumph than all of them. However, Holland and Germany have not been covered in-depth.
Nevertheless, with what he has in the squad, Capello has done quite well along with Vicente del Bosque, Bert van Marwijk and Joachim Loew. England is good value for their bookies slot as third favorites to lift the World Cup on July 11. After such dismal showings in the two warm-up friendlies, many unnerving variety of tactical uncertainties have plagued the team as well.
Capello's compelling genius and track-record as a coach has all too often come with a dose of mystery, suspense and luck. There are always unanswered questions being asked about the Italian right up until the final stretch, which could very nearly be compared to watch a few seasons of the show ‘lost’, and though he too has never managed to make all of his fans happy, he always delivers in the end.
But it is a well-established fact that most of Don Fabio's success as manager has come out in the form of league titles. In the more perilous, sudden-death nature of a knockout tournament, not even a team as spectacular as Spain can really be considered as runaway favorites because anything can happen. That's the beauty of the game.
Credit has to go to Capello for a courageous selection throughout each area of the team. Walcott is by far the most surprising and high-profile of the omissions and there is undoubted strength behind the argument that any player with such devastating attributes is worth a place in the squad.
However, England are not short of pace without Theo, and his failure to display the technical ability of an international caliber player in the majority of his recent outings for his club and his country meant that there is certainly greater benefit to be had from Aaron Lennon being in the team, not to mention Shaun Wright-Phillips' consistent if not show-stopping performances all season.
Then we have Darren Bent, who also had one factor falling heavily in his favor and that was ‘numbers’. Capello is a man who lives and dies for results, and Darren Bent's formidable goal-scoring record makes a mockery of Emile Heskey's efforts this season, and even outdoes Jermain Defoe's. But this is a player who has, for whatever reason, never managed to bring his club form to his country. Now would not have been the time to test him out.
Heskey, for all his un-fanciness, has been playing in most of the games in which Capello's England have produced their best performances and results as well.
There could have potentially been a place for the exciting and in-form Adam Johnson, but the choice to go with the more tried and tested candidates was one of classic Capello caution, and will of course benefit the team in the end as far as the organization goes. There seems to have been just the right balance in this selection of both sticking to his regular principles and also adapting to his new environment. It certainly isn't everybody's ideal 23, even though such a thing probably doesn't even exist, but it's certainly one that makes all the right noises and stands up well on merit.
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