Moment Of Truth For Capello As World Cup Starts
After months and months of preparations the time has finally come with England due to play the USA in Rustenburg on Saturday Night, the 2010 World Cup is finally here and all the pressure is on Fabio Capello as he looks to guide England to a successful tournament. For all the success the Italian has had as a Club Manager this is his first experience of a World Cup and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the situation, he has shown one or two signs of pressure in the last few days but he will need to show a cool head if England are to claim the three points against a tough looking USA side.
Capello has been in the full glare of the media spotlight since the England team arrived in South Africa and the first cracks started to appear on Wednesday when he had a very public spat with a group of photographers, Capello felt that the snappers should not be trying to picture the players in the changing room and made his feelings perfectly clear. Some are suggesting that it showed the pressure mounting on the Italian ahead of the first game in Group C, that will all be forgotten though if England can take three points against the USA before taking on Algeria in the second game.
The USA will be a difficult match for England leaving Capello with some tough decisions on his hands as he looks to pick the correct formula for the starting line-up, we know that Gareth Barry will miss the game through injury meaning the midfield will need a rejig for the match. It will be interesting to see where Steven Gerrard will play with Capello deciding whether to play him off of Wayne Rooney or back in midfield with Frank Lampard, the other selection quandary is the goalkeeping position with David James, Rob Green and Joe Hart all with realistic chances to start the first game. These are the sort of calls and decisions that could well decide how England do in South Africa and how successful an England Manager Fabio Capello will be remembered as going forward.
There had been speculation that Capello was wanted by Inter Milan to replace Jose Mourinho but the Italian has nipped it in the bud by signing a new contract with England, he is now committed to the FA until after Euro 2012 at which time he is likely to call it a day as a Manager. It was important that Capello signed the new deal to leave the focus on this World Cup rather than whether or not he would remain in the job after the tournament, his future will also depend on how the team perform in South Africa with the Semi-Finals a minimum target for the team. England have reached the quarter-finals for the past two tournaments meaning that Capello will need to improve on that performance if he is to be considered a success in the job, Good Luck Fabio!
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