I still get nervous each time the England national team are playing any international match, World Cup qualifiers or not. What happened the last time when I watched the qualifier against Ukraine which took place at the Wembley was an example. While coach Fabio Capello clenched both his fists after the final whistle had been blown, for me...I was like, 'Thank goodness!'.
This time round, with those injuries and the like and flying all the way to Kazakhstan before the midweek qualifier at home to Andorra, jet-lag has become a major talking point. Not only that, how about the state of pitch at Almaty (where it is going to be played)? But then the England squad arrived on late Tuesday in order to get used to the surroundings. Just do not raise the concerns of the jet-lag and the like because Capello does not like that. He said, "At the end of the season, the players are not fresh like when we started. But we have to play two very important games against Kazakhstan and Andorra. The problems of players, if they are tired or not, is no excuse. We have to play, we have to win and everyone who plays has to be very strong. There will be no excuses that we are tired or wanting a holiday. None of that."
Fabio Capello does have confidence over his side. Or to be precise, having big confidence. He has faith in skipper John Terry and the rest of his team to do themselves justice in South Africa in 12 months' time. Not only that, the Italian believes England have the balance to match the best teams in the world. Apart from that, it is the outstanding personnel issues that need to be addressed. Like: The defensive choices for the national team, the goalkeeping issue, and why Theo Walcott is being included into the senior side and also part of England U-21 side in the upcoming European U-21 Championships later this month in Sweden?
On the defensive choices, Fabio Capello has reiterated his faith in England's back-up defenders Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott in the absence again of the injured Rio Ferdinand. He said: "I am happy about the defence because we have no problem. When we have played Lescott or Upson they have played very well. It was the same with (Phil) Jagielka. There are no problems with the centre-back position. I have big confidence in my team and no problem to play against all the teams in the world." As for the case of the goalkeepers, he will wait until the morning of the match to make a final decision on who will replace injured goalkeeper David James. I suppose as I typed this, maybe Capello has an idea who does he want to start in goal (bearing in mind of the time difference between Kazakhstan and Singapore). Speaking yesterday, "I have more or less decided but tomorrow morning will be the last decision. All the goalkeepers that we have here are fit."
As for the inclusion of Theo Walcott given it had raised eyebrows with Walcott's club manager Arsene Wenger at Arsenal...Fabio Capello believes Walcott can cope because he missed so much of last season with a shoulder injury. The Italian pointed out, "Theo is one of the players that played less games last season. He was injured for four months and now he has just started to be very fit. I understand also all the managers at the start of the season like to have all the team together because pre-season is very important. For this reason, I understand Arsene (Wenger). But there are also the Confederation Cup, South American World Cup games and others going on during the summer."
But while Fabio Capello does have confidence over his players, his captain John Terry is happy for Spain to get hyped up ahead of next year's World Cup. European champions Spain will start as one of the favourites and Terry is pleased the focus is on them. Terry said, "Build them right up in the World Cup and put the pressure on them. They've got great players. Look at what they did in the Euros and in the Champions League. We've said too many times that England have got a real chance, but we'll stay well away from that this summer." Word.
Via ESPN Soccernet, Fabio Capello's counterpart Bernd Storck is unhappy with the fitness of his players. The German has accused clubs of not sticking to the fitness programmes that he has devised for his players. He said, "After holding the national team's training camp in Turkey in February I've given the players individual workout sheets so they could do aerobic work on their own. But then I find out that coaches from three leading Kazakh teams, Aktobe, Tobol and Lokomotiv, are forbidding the players to follow my advice. When I wanted to attend a Lokomotiv training session, the club's head coach Sergei Yuran said it was a closed session. It's just amazing how these guys treat one of their own."
The Kazakhstan coach feels fitness levels are holding his players back. Bernd Storck added: "Kazakhstan are some 15-20 years behind most of the rest of Europe. The physical fitness and conditioning is the biggest problem because local teams pay little attention to it. If we don't show some improvements in this area we are not going to be competitive on the international level."
International football thought of the day: Having confidence, for me, it is the case of just get the job done first...before any talk of future plans in the England squad. I am with the captain John Terry on this one. Let Spain have the favourites tag.
Brooking searching for answers for England (FA want the national side to model themselves on European champs)
England's dynamic duo Fabio Capello and Trevor Brooking plan for lasting change (England are going places under Fabio Capello, going to European outposts so distant they border China, going onwards and upwards so confidently in the Fifa rankings that 1,500 fans have travelled here, including one diehard from Newcastle who came by train.)
England embrace Almaty mission (Phil McNulty sees England go on a charm offensive in Kazakhstan)
Capello brings pride to football shirts (Since he arrived in England to manage the national team in January 2008, Fabio Capello has produced some impressive results on the field. But his no-nonsense approach to training and tactical formations are only part of his vision.)
A step into the unknown on Europe's final frontier (Paul Hayward meets the Kazakh players who are keen to show their England counterparts that theirs is not a backwater of international football)
