Judgement day for Capello as England prepare for crucial Croatia showdown

Fabio Capello did not want to come to the Maksimir Stadium quite so early in this World Cup qualifying campaign and FA officials admitted as much when they joined England's manager at the fixtures meeting in the Croatia capital back in January.

Capello was rather hoping to meet Croatia at Wembley in September, not return to the scene of that crushing European Championship defeat two years ago when Steve McClaren declared himself a tactical numbnut by opting for a 3-5-2 formation that was completely alien to his players.

David Beckham, poised to win his 105th cap against Croatia, in England training with Emile Heskey

When McClaren's successor sat across the table from Slaven Bilic 15 months later, Croatia's manager said he would prefer to meet England in October - once the Champions League was under way- and only agreed to September if his team were allowed to stay at home.

Even if Capello has the considerably more impressive c.v., Bilic would appear to be the better negotiator, whatever West Ham might now say.

Fully stretched: Rio Ferdinand could be in for a busy evening in Zagreb

Listening to Capello last night, you might think the Maksimir Stadium is probably now preferable to the £800million super structure that he says turns his lions into pussycats.

But tonight remains something of a worry for England when there has been so little evidence of progress.

This, after all, is not just an encounter with a team which followed that victory in Zagreb with another win at Wembley last autumn.

It is a match against a team ranked nine places higher on the global chart who have never lost a qualifying match on home soil. The tally is 35 and counting.Some record.

Capello recognised the potential significance of this evening's contest back in January.

'The match with Croatia is important and possibly decisive,' he said.

And yet here he is, seven games into his reign and under enormous pressure with a team that took 49 minutes to score a goal against Andorra.

John Terry clearly thought it might have been prudent to delay such a trip until England had regained some much-needed confidence. When asked to comment on the outcome of that fixtures meeting, the pained expression said it all.

'That's a difficult one to answer,' he eventually said with a smile. 'We've got it, it's been done, whoever made that decision has made it.'

The same question was then put to Capello and, while refusing to take any responsibility, he did concede that the timing was not ideal when injuries to Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick have weakened his side significantly.

'But I am not a magician,' he declared. 'I could not foresee these things.'

His mood nevertheless remained buoyant, even when asked to recall the 'worst' defeat of his managerial career - he said he could not remember - and when it was suggested that this was 'judgment day'.

That, after five friendlies and one competitive fixture, the nation he now serves were about to give their verdict on him.

'It can be if you want,' he said. 'But I think it's the second game of the group. The second game. The game is important psychologically because we lost the last two games against them, but I don't talk about the games that we lost.

'I always speak about the future. The future is tomorrow. The future is the next game. If you want, you can call it that (judgment day). But, for me, the way is very long. It's very, very long.'

Wayne Rooney is closely marked as he prepares for England's crucial World Cup qualifer

The road to South Africa will appear very long indeed if England do contrive to lose this evening, but Capello appeared confident that he was not about to suffer such a setback.

He has no doubt noted the absence of Eduardo and Niko Kranjcar from Croatia's side, just as he would have seen how Bilic and his players self-destructed in that European Championship quarter-final against Turkey that was memorable as much for a manager's horribly premature goal celebration as the manner in which his team then collapsed.

'I saw Croatia in the Euros and Bilic did very impressive work with his team,' said Capello. 'But I also saw them play Turkey when they lost after penalties, and maybe after they're not as confident as they were before.'

Confidence is still the key for England and Capello says he has seen it grow since meeting up with his squad at the beginning of last week.

'I'm happy because we have worked for nine days with the players and we have more confidence than before,' he said. 'We have got better day by day and I'm sure we will play a good game.

'We have to pay big attention to the counter-attacks from Croatia. I think the free-kicks and corners are very important. This is one of their strong points. But we have to play with confidence, without fear, and play very quickly.'

Much will, of course, depend on how Capello organises his side. Last night at the Maksimir he appeared to be leaning towards a 4-3-2-1 formation that would see Theo Walcott and Joe Cole positioned either side of Wayne Rooney with a three-man midfield deployed behind them.

It would certainly give England solidity as well as pace and invention up front.

Not until this evening, however, will the players discover exactly what Capello has in mind, and not until this evening will Capello then discover exactly how far he has come as England manager.