latest sport news
England manager Fabio Capello has warned his players that fatigue will be "no excuse" if they slip-up in their World Cup qualifying double-header.
England, who have an 100% record in Group Six, play Kazakhstan in Almaty on Saturday and then Andorra at Wembley next Wednesday.
Although Capello acknowledges some of his squad might feel a little tired following a long Premier League season, he still expects England to take another giant step towards qualification for South Africa 2010 by taking maximum points.
Capello said: "The problems of players, if they are tired or not, is no excuse. We have to play, we have to win and everyone who plays has to be very strong.
"At the end of the season, the players are not fresh like when we started. But we have to play two very important games against Kazakhstan and Andorra.
"There will be no excuses that we are tired or wanting a holiday. None of that."
England are five points clear of second placed Croatia in their group and Capello has "big confidence" that England will perform well at the 2010 World Cup, if they qualify as expected.
"First we have to get through to South Africa but I think we will be a very good team if we achieve that," the Italian said. "We are very strong and we can play against all the best teams of the best countries in the world.
"I am very happy with these players, with this group and I have big confidence in the future."
Capello is also happy to see Arsenal winger Theo Walcott return to the international fold for the first time in eight month since suffering his shoulder problem.
Walcott shot to prominence with his hat-trick in the 4-1 demolition of Croatia in Zagreb earlier in the campaign.
Capello said: "I think all the players are important, not only Theo Walcott. But he is good. We are happy that he is back because it is important for us."
Capello understands Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's concerns over Walcott suffering from burn-out, as he will join up with the Under-21s for the European Championships in Sweden after the two World Cup games. But he points to the fact that Walcott missed a sizeable chunk of the campaign with his shoulder setback.
Capello said: "Theo is one of the players that played less games last season. He was injured for four months and now he has just started to be very fit.
"I followed him in the last games he played. Stuart Pearce (Under-21 coach) spoke with him and he was happy to play for the Under-21s and so after the seniors Theo will go with the Under-21s.
"I understand also all the managers at the start of the season like to have all the team together because pre-season is very important. For this reason, I understand Arsene (Wenger).
"But there are also the Confederation Cup, South American World Cup games and others going on during the summer."
Capello will assess the fitness of Rio Ferdinand after Saturday's game. He has not travelled to Almaty because of a back problem.
Capello said: "Rio was not fit so he stayed in England. We have played a lot of games without him and I have big confidence in Joleon Lescott and big confidence in Matthew Upson. There is no problem for the game.
"When we return to England, we will check the condition of Rio and if he is fit, he will stay with us."
Capello was also keen to play down reports of a training ground altercation between midfielder Gareth Barry and another player after the Manchester City newcomer had been challenged.
He said: "I was a player. I am a manager. During the training sometimes, some players after one tackle push the other one but on Thursday I saw nothing. Absolutely nothing."
No comments:
Post a Comment