Capello talks a good game, but can England play it?

It was an impressive, if rather surprising, performance from England’s manager at Wembley. After four fairly forgettable friendlies he says England are ‘ready’ to beat Croatia in Zagreb next month, not least because he saw little to concern him at the European Championship earlier this summer.

Happy as Fabio: Capello meets a young fan at Wembley Stadium

‘I have a lot of confidence in my team because, in the three games I saw, only Spain played really well,’ he said.

Slaven Bilic might be more than a little surprised to hear that when his Croatia team followed victory against Austria with an impressive 2-1 defeat of Germany in the second of those two games with, let’s be honest, the kind of football that still seems alien to England.

But Capello says he is not concerned, even if a shortage of fit and able strikers could yet force him to call Darren Bent into his squad for next week’s friendly against the Czech Republic.

‘It is a possibility,’ he said. ‘He has been playing well for Tottenham, and (general manager) Franco Baldini told me last night that he was good again against Roma.’

His opinion of Euro 2008 demanded further explanation. Croatia were guilty of over-confidence, most memorably in the final stages of that extraordinary quarter-final against Turkey, but at times they were terrific.

‘The best team won the Euros because they played with confidence,’ said Capello in noticeably more fluent English. ‘After the game against Italy, they (Spain) played with a lot of confidence.

‘Croatia played good enough. They played with spirit, pride in their country. With patriotism. They were good on the counter-attack and they have got good quality in midfield and in their forwards. But I think we are ready to win against Croatia.

‘The other teams at the Euros played with a lot of spirit. But we are at the same level or better. We just have to play with this spirit, with the same confidence, and it is my job to transmit that confidence into the team.’

England expects: Capello is looking for great things from the newly-married striker

He should start by repeating what he said on Monday while also congratulating his most important player on getting married this summer.

A wife, he said with a wry smile, will be good for Wayne Rooney, and not even the photographs of the Manchester United striker smoking on honeymoon appeared to concern the Italian. He said it was up to Rooney what he did in his ‘private life’, even if he expressed some hope that he wasn’t smoking ‘20 a day’.

Asked if Rooney still needs to calm down, he said: ‘I think Rooney is just married, so he will be better. It’s better if players are married. Usually, they find a balance.’

It is also better, he went on to say, if his players are appearing regularly for their clubs, which could become a serious issue this season when the likes of Joe Cole could find it more difficult to secure a starting place.

‘It’s very important for me that the players that I will decide to put in the squad are getting games,’ he said. ‘It’s impossible to be fit if you don’t play in pre-season.

‘But next week’s game is good for me because I can see exactly the general condition, physically, of the players. And once the season starts it is also important the players appear regularly.’

Concerns nevertheless remain, not least with regard to the fitness of key players. Michael Owen and Rooney have been troubled by illness while Steven Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves have been struggling with injury.

‘I know my team for Andorra and Croatia next month,’ he said. ‘But we will have to see if I get the opportunity to select it.

‘Some important players are not fit. We have options, though. Darren Bent played very well last year. Two years ago he was a very important player and Tottenham spent a lot of money to sign him.

‘I am confident. I will be in South Africa for the World Cup, for sure.’

* Fabio Capello was speaking at a McDonald’s Football Festival event.