Fabio Capello has admitted he had no idea about the off-field problems he would face when he took over as England coach — but still believes he can win the World Cup this summer.

The Italian has suffered setbacks in his preparations in recent weeks with the bugging of England's training camp last week and scandals over the private lives of John Terry and Ashley Cole.

While Capello would not talk about any individual incidents, he did admit that when he took the job just over two years ago, he thought his main task would be picking his 11 best players.

He said: “Usually my job has been to decide things on the pitch, not off it. It is a new job for me. But it is always important for me to have a challenge because at my age, without a challenge, I would stay at home and grow old.

“I like the challenge and this will be the most important one in my life.”

And Capello, 63, maintained that England can finally end more than 40 years of hurt and win the World Cup in South Africa.

“When I was a club manager with Milan, Juventus, Roma and Real Madrid, my target was always to win games,” he added. “Now it is the same. We have one of the best teams and we hope to reach the semi-finals, minimum, and after a lot of years, to win the World Cup.

“We have a good team, good players and we believe we can beat any team because we can play at the same level as the best teams in the World Cup.”

Capello also identified Wayne Rooney, who plays for Manchester United against AC Milan tonight, as his key player.

Speaking at the Laureus Sports Awards today, he said: “I hope Wayne will be in the same form as he is now during the World Cup. I also hope he will stay fit because he is one of our most important players.”

Capello believes Brazil, Spain and his native Italy will be England's main rivals for this summer's tournament and is dreaming of beating his countrymen in the final.

“To be England manager was a dream and I am really proud,” he said.

“I hope to play Italy in the final because I would be really happy. The target for every team is to play in the final and at that moment my shirt would be an England one.”