Sport

Cap wants to remove fear factor
by Alex Livie, 08 October 2008

Fabio Capello feels England’s stunning win over Croatia will result in The Three Lions playing without any fear against Kazakhstan and Belarus.

England have been weighed down by expectation for far too long, with the players succumbing to the pressure of representing an expectant nation.

The FA turned to Capello in a bid to work the oracle and following a lacklustre start, the Italian grabbed the headlines with England’s superb victory in Croatia.

England will look to build on their win in Zagreb against Kazakhstan on Saturday and Capello feels the players will approach the game in a positive frame of mind.

"Croatia was just one victory, a very important one but it is only an important victory for the future because we have to play the next game in Wembley where we played always with fear," said Capello.

"After the victory over Croatia I think we'll play with more confidence and without fear.

"Sometimes we face very strong critics but we have to play like training because during training we are fantastic players."

Capello arrived at the England helm following an illustrious career in club management and he is clearly frustrated by the different nature of international management.

"Managing a [club] team, you can resolve a problem in a week. Here you have to wait a month to speak [again] with a player," Capello told the 'England Expects' programme on ITV1.

"To take this team to the next level this team need the confidence to play every game like the last game.

"The one thing I would like to change is to have more time with the players, and more games."