Monday, June 21, 2010

Pressure to blame, says Capello

Fabio Capello, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch in training

England train ahead of crunch match

England manager Fabio Capello believes pressure is to blame for their stuttering World Cup campaign.

Capello's side are without a victory in South Africa and need to beat Slovenia on Wednesday to make it through to the knockout stages of the competition.

"It is a mental thing. Absolutely. When you are under pressure, big pressure, sometimes the legs do not work normally," Capello told BBC Sport.

Capello, 64, also described the game as "one of the biggest of my career".

During his 20-year managerial career, which has seen the former Italy international manage AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus, Capello has been involved in a host of big games.

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Nabil Hassan - BBC Sport

But the Italian admitted that with England facing the humiliation of an early World Cup exit, Wednesday's game is as big as they come.

"After this game we have no more chances. We have to win," he added.

England's poor start to the World Cup, a 1-1 draw with the United States followed by a 0-0 draw against Algeria, has left Capello's side in a precarious position.

A defeat against Slovenia would mean England are eliminated, while a draw would leave their fate depending on the result between the US and Algeria, and only victory would guarantee England make the last 16.

Their performances in South Africa are in stark contrast to those during qualification, when England played with fluidity, flair and freedom.

Capello has been left frustrated and baffled by the way England have played to date and has called on his side to recapture the spirit of the qualifying campaign.

"Look, the results have not been good, but I haven't seen the spirit on the pitch for 90 minutes, only for five or six minutes," said Capello.

No player unrest at team meeting - Lampard

"I hope in the next game the spirit will return on the pitch to that I saw in qualification."

Central defender John Terry said on Sunday that the players planned to hold clear-the-air-talks with Capello, with several reportedly unhappy at the Italian's tactics, but Capello said this did not happen.

"At the meeting we saw the Algerian game, we saw the mistakes without comments," said Capello. "Afterwards there was no comments."

Capello also dismissed reports of disharmony and boredom among the England players, stressing that the team is fully united off the pitch.

"The spirit in the hotel and in training is fantastic, it's incredible," said Capello.

"The players are training really well, they are smiling and they are playing together and everything is like the best moment of their life. But I want to see this in the game and not just only in training.

"We have prepared everything perfectly for the players, they can swim, go to the gym and train.

"The players are free and can go where they want. Everything is more or less perfect. But we are here to play at the World Cup and not for a holiday."

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