Capello hails England's evolution

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-12 09:09

LONDON: Fabio Capello paid tribute to the way the England squad has matured under his leadership as they stood on the brink of reaching the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

England have won all seven qualifying matches under the Italian's stewardship, rounding off their season with Wednesday's 6-0 win against lowly Andorra - a side they had laboured to beat last September in Capello's first competitive match in charge.

Capello hails England's evolution

One win from their remaining three games should secure a World Cup berth, though other results elsewhere in Group Six could see them qualify regardless.

Capello has slowly transformed predecessor Steve McClaren's side - which failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships - into one that plays to its strengths and looks firmly among the continent's strongest sides.

"I think we started against Andorra not so well," he said, reflecting on the 2-0 win in Barcelona that kicked off England's qualifying campaign. "We suffered in the first half and we didn't score. But after, step by step, we moved on, we improved and in the group we created a different style. After every game we improved."

Capello also said veteran midfielder David Beckham had every chance of still being in the England squad come the World Cup finals.

The 34-year-old had been reduced to a string of bit-part substitute appearances under Capello - who had dropped Beckham when in charge at Real Madrid.

However, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder, who earned his first England start in two years and extended the national outfield caps record to 112 in Wednesday's Andorra win, has everything to play for on the international stage.

"If Beckham is here it's because I choose him and because he is one of the best English players at this moment," Capello said. "He has always played well when he has played as a substitute. He is one of the best."

Capello hailed the contribution of Wayne Rooney in England's 6-0 win over Andorra at Wembley.

The Manchester United forward scored twice to take his tally to eight goals from England's seven qualifying matches.

"We were very strong. We had two chances to score goals before Rooney's first goal. Always when you play against a team that is not strong, you have to press quickly, you have to win back the ball and we did this," Capello said.

The 62-year-old replaced Rooney with Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe at half-time but insisted the switch was not pre-planned before the game.

"No, I decided 'Thank-you very much, have a good holiday'," he said after watching Rooney help England ease their path to South Africa.

Rooney scored with a fourth-minute header and sidefooted in another in the 39th, 10 minutes after Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard drilled England's second.

Defoe scored simple goals in the 73rd and 75th minutes and Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch tapped in England's sixth some five minutes later.

Despite a strike on the London Underground train network that left many supporters stranded, some 57,897 people watched the game - a figure nonetheless approaching that of the entire Andorran population.

AFP